Smoking has a wide range of implications for the human health – from lung and teeth health, to an increased risk of certain types of cancer. On the other hand, electronic cigarettes are often mentioned as a “healthier” option, and some studies even found that the risk of cancer is a lot lower when smoking e-cigarettes than regular ones. However, that isn’t to say that these cigarettes don’t have their own side effects.
Recent studies give us reason to suspect that electronic cigarettes can cause hair loss.
Smoking and Hair Loss
It’s hardly news that smoking damages our health in several ways. One of these effects is hair loss. And, although it’s hard to establish a direct connection between the two, studies have found that there is a link. For example, a 2007 study found that Asian men who smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day are at a higher risk of androgenetic alopecia.
Scientists still don’t understand the nature of this link, but it could be that the deterioration of smokers’ overall health leads to many deficiencies that can cause indirect hair loss.
Electronic Cigarettes and Hair Loss
But, while smoking can cause damage to our health, it seems that vaping could be even more dangerous. A 2016 study published in the American Journal of Physiology found that vaping can kill 358 genes that play an important role in immune defense, compared to only 53 that smoking could kill.
This may not be enough to say with confidence that electronic cigarettes can cause hair loss, but they can certainly exacerbate certain autoimmune hair loss conditions.
Conclusion
While the link between vaping and hair loss isn’t that convincing that electronic cigarettes can cause hair loss, we can say that vaping certainly doesn’t help. This is particularly the case if you have an autoimmune hair loss condition.
