Cleveland Clinic: Study shows vaping causes lung injury

CLEVELAND — A new study from researchers at Cleveland Clinic adds to mounting evidence that vaping is harmful to lungs.

"We have absolute proof that lung damage can occur in some patients who vape, especially those who vape THC; there's absolute confirmation of that," Dr. Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, director of Pulmonary Pathology at Cleveland Clinic, said in a news release. Dr. Mukhopadhyay led the research.



Researchers studied lung tissue samples from eight men who were hospitalized with breathing problems after vaping products containing THC, a chemical found in marijuana. They looked at the samples for signs of infection and injury. Results showed varying degrees of injury to the lung tissue but no sign of infection.



The team also looked for characteristics of oil damage because of a theory that vitamin E oil in some vape products may be to blame for the illnesses. However, researchers could not find any signs of traditional oil damage in the tissue samples.

This was just the second study in the world to look at actual lung tissue from people with vaping-related illness — and both studies show similar results, confirming that vaping can lead to lung injury, according to the news release.



"For the general public, they should be extremely cautious when vaping, especially when vaping stuff that comes off of the black market or in an illicit way," Dr. Mukhopadhyay said. "There's much more debate to be had and many more questions to be answered, but there's no doubt, at this point, that some patients get severe lung damage because of vaping."



Click here for more information about the study.

This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Cleveland Clinic: Study shows vaping causes lung injury."