For a year, 18 smokers were monitored with mild to moderate asthma. Dr. Russo of the University of Catania (Italy) subjected them to a spirometry to measure the lung function and prompted them to switch to electronic cigarettes.
One year later, the subjects were subjected to the same tests to compare the overall health status of the patients. The comparison yielded astounding results:
Asthmatic smokers who followed the advice to partially or completely switch to e-cigarettes showed significant improvements in lung function after 1 year, reduced respiratory irritability and a general improvement in quality of life.
The most important parameters of a spirometry are the FEV1 this is the single-second (the blown volume during the first second of the test), the FEF25-75 (the average flow rate between 25 and 75% of the FVC) and the PEF (highest flow Of the test). In particular, the average flow rate showed a clinically significant improvement with an increase of 2.75 L / sec to 3.11 L / sec.
Another important finding of the study concerns daily consumption of ordinary cigarettes decreased in subjects from 21.9 per day to 3.9 after 12 months of follow-up. 10 patients switched completely to e-cigarettes, while the 8 others continued to use. It indicates that despite these test subjects, they were not obliged to seize the e-cigarette spontaneously because they experience their quality of life.
Dr. Cristian Russo indicated that smoking and asthma are a dangerous link. Smoking accelerates the decline of lung function in asthma patients, aggravates respiratory tract obstruction and increases the sensitivity to corticosteroids.
According to Dr. Russo improves the use of electronic cigarettes for respiratory physiology and they are a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes. She declared at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.