The Daily Mail (UK) (10/18) reported that vaping interferes with wound healing, according to research published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery by Boston University researchers. Corresponding author Dr. Jeffrey Spiegel, who is chief of facial plastic surgery at Boston Medical Center, said, “Based on our findings, e-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes as it relates to timely wound healing,” and this should be considered “before and after surgery.” Based on experiments on rats, he said, “Smoking and vaping appear to be equally detrimental to wound healing and to be associated with a statistically significant increase in tissue death.”
For more information on the ADA’s advocacy efforts on tobacco visit ADA.org/tobacco. The ADA Foundation also offers a resource on e-cigarettes.