This is a first in France! If at the beginning of the week vaping experienced a real media surge against it, the wind finally turned towards a more responsible speech. Indeed, for a few days, major dailies have denounced this "bad buzz" and take the time to analyze this famous study by calling on scientists who are experts in the field.
PARIS MATCH TITLE "OF THE BUZZ THAT CAN KILL"!
It is indeed the newspaper " Paris Match "Who opened hostilities by not following the AFP dispatch in a stupid and nasty way and by titling" Carcinogenic electronic cigarette: "The buzz that can kill" ". In order to explain its position, the newspaper appealed to several scientists including Prof. Bertrand Dautzenberg, pulmonologist and prescriber of electronic cigarettes to his patients.
« We are not in the scientific truth, but in the manipulation. First, the conditions under which the experiment is carried out are absolutely not representative of human exposure. It shows cellular abnormalities by exposing mice to considerable amounts of nicotine, much more than can be done with a regular electronic cigarette. Then we extrapolate from mice to humans, and finally we do not compare the effect of vaping to that of tobacco smoke "- Pr Bertrand Dautzenberg
Used to seeing the effects of electronic cigarettes on his patients, Professor Dautzenberg has no real doubts about its effectiveness:
« Today, we know that nicotine is toxic, irritating to the respiratory tract, and addictive. Reason why there is no more than 2% in e-liquids. At the amounts consumed by a vaper, there is a slight toxicity, but infinitely less than that of smoked tobacco.«
But the concern remains present following the anthology of “buzz” articles that are spreading on the internet and in the print media. " Globally, we are inundated with fake news like this. Scientific journals also want to create a buzz. They play at the English “Sun” by writing press releases that sometimes contradict the studies themselves. It's a way to have all the coverage and increase their income "Declares Bertrand Dautzenberg before adding" The result is that some will stop vaping and resume smoking. News like this can kill people. It is totally against public health. The job of researchers is to save lives, not kill people."
For its part, Jacques Le Houezec, pharmacologist and tobacco specialist, recalls a similar older study, which “totally contradicts” this one:
« The rats were exposed to an aerosol of nicotine at a concentration giving twice the nicotinemia seen in heavy smokers. For 20 hours a day, 5 days a week, over a period of 2 years. No increase in mortality, atherosclerosis or tumor frequency was observed in these rats compared to the control group. In particular, no microscopic or macroscopic lung tumor, nor increase in pulmonary endocrine cells. On the other hand, the weight of the rats exposed to nicotine was lower than that of the control rats. "- Jacques Le Houezec
But the Paris Match newspaper is not the only one to have reacted in this direction. Indeed, Le Figaro also recently titled an article " No, there is no evidence that e-cigarettes increase the risk of cancer And it seems difficult to make more clear! According to the famous newspaper " The results do not allow to establish a link between e-cigarette and cancer. »And this is the essence of what there is to know about this study.
Concerning France Inter, it's a real " Scientific harassment Which does not stop any more concerning vaping. This column by Dr Dupagne denounces these too many
“Studies” which attempt to analyze anything and everything about the electronic cigarette.
« It's a bit like seeing articles every 6 months on the risk of liver cirrhosis induced by non-alcoholic beer. Academic science cannot recover from having missed the e-cigarette, which we owe to a Chinese hacker. But this harassment is really not fair play, even irresponsible! Meanwhile, the tobacco industry is rubbing its hands! "- Dr. Dupagne
The message is clear and according to him it is time to focus on the essential: “ One could also publish studies showing that non-alcoholic beer contains sugar, that sugar can make the liver fatter, and that fatty liver can lead to cirrhosis! Such a warning would fortunately not be taken seriously (even if it is better to drink water). »He declares.
Other newspapers and sites have also spoken on the subject in order to defend vaping in the face of unjustified “bad buzz”. The newspaper " Liberation " as " Is it true that vaping increases the risk of heart disease?", Femina Ask if " Does the electronic cigarette really increase the risk of cancer? " and Actusoins title in turn " Danger Vapotage? ".
THE MEDIA DEFEND THE E-CIGARETTE AGAINST A BAD BUZZ! A FIRST !
For years, vaping has frequently suffered the wrath of certain dubious studies or the cascading “bad buzz” that follow. This week, for the very first time, some media have chosen to avoid this "buzz" and defend vaping in the face of real injustice.
Could the electronic cigarette have finally found this much sought after media impact ? Still, some major media have understood that the e-cigarette had a real role to play in smoking cessation and that it was perhaps time to stop considering this device as a "fad". More and more scientists and health experts defend vaping and no longer hesitate to put this solution forward while specifying that it is less harmful than tobacco.
Hopefully from today the media will continue to be fair to electronic cigarettes so that this new public health issue is not wiped out by “bad buzz”.
