what do our lungs look like from the inside?

[sunsett70]

excuse me if this has been discussed before. new to vaping and came across this resin 'leftover' from condensed vapor. i have a question and tried searching but didn't come across anything so i'm asking here:

looking at the image of the glass wand ,
can anyone explain whether the effect of smoke/vapor to our lungs when we take it in is the same as the glass wand? Just wondering cause that picture just shook me up a bit, visually, i can't imagine taking all that into my lungs. Assuming that condensation occurs inside (i am not sure, please comment) do our lungs look like that on the inside, all coated with the sticky resin/wandhash or do our lungs self-clean to the extent that the resin is removed?

If our lungs don't self-clean efficiently, does it mean that the accumulated resin which is 'stuck' to our lungs can be scrapped off and smoked by our friends when we are dead?


p/s - i am sorry. just realised that this post may have been better posted on ask fc. mod, i cannot delete this post, anyway you can move this? thank you.

 

[steiner666]

A large majority of what you're seeing there is just powdered bud/abv that got sucked through the screen and stuck to the inside of the wand. Yeah, there is some condensation that accumulates over a length of time (i'd say on average it would take about an ounce of herb to get a wand like that, which, for me, would take 1-2 months to go through) but it just looks like a slight golden honey tint, its the fact that its sticky and catches that powdered abv that makes it looks so brown and nasty. This powdered bud usually will be caught on your lips/tongue, so you wont be inhaling it more than likely.

as for your specific questions on the effects on the lungs and their functions, i'll leave that to someone else to answer more technically. I'll just say that i quit smoking cigs one new years and continued to smoke herb and felt better after quitting the cigs, but it wasnt until i quit smoking herb altogether that my lungs cleared up and i stopped coughing up stuff every morning. The difference that switching to vaping made was greater or at least equal to the improvement after quitting cigs. It took a month or two tho for things to clear up. Yeah, inhaling anything into your lungs will never be as healthy as just breathing fresh clean air, but all that stuff you see in that wand, that takes so long to build up, would probably be less than what you'd get from 1 joint smoked.

 

[momatik]

Your lungs certainly do have a self cleaning system. Think about how often we are bringing a new environment into our lungs; constantly.

Breathing overtime in any environment will bring a numerous amount of impurities into ones lungs.

Cells on the surfaces of your alveoli break down any impurities that they can. What limits them from breaking down x rather than y is if the cell has enzymes capable of catalyzing the reaction required for disposal and removal of that specific impurity. If I remember correctly, this is why tobacco tar is specifically difficult for the body to remove.

Dead immunoglobins (cells fighting off any infections) and gylocproteins are forced back up through the trachea and into your mouth in the form of mucus. This mucus can be then spit, or swallowed and the acidic conditions in your stomach will break it down.

 

[DevoTheStrange]

one thing you also have to consider as well, when talking about vapor, is that any condensed vapor that stays in your lungs after vaping can be absorbed by your body. Anything else, such as particulate matter will be cleaned out and removed from your lungs via the normal process.
Most of what you are seeing in that pic above is particulate held in place by condensed oil .

 

[reloader]

Compare that wand to a frequently used pipe that is smoked out of. All that black gooey resin wood be much worse. I dont think the wand looks nasty at all, nice golden brown.
My wand looks like that as well, but the further you go down the whip it is clearer, so 95% of that residue is on the wand end of the whip, not the mouthpiece. Also I run my vapor through a hydrator, to further cool and filter the vapor down.

I quit smoking cigs 7 years ago, and when I did all my coughing, clearing my throat extended colds etc... went away, even though I continued to toke herb, but I went exclusivley to vaping about 3 years ago, and feel great, no coughing, and rarley ever have a cold or anything. In fact I beleive I have improved my lung function tremendously, because I can now jog several miles without being winded.

 

[minuteman420]

I'm not a professional so don't take my word as biblic literature, this is just what I think.

So from what I know, your body has it's own defenses. So when vaping, any large particles are going to be trapped by cilia and mucous as they make their way into the lungs. You'll cough this stuff out if too much of it accumulates.

Also alot of the buildup on the tube is resin, or THC in liquid/solid form. This stuff is obviously absorbed into the lungs, it's what gets you floaty.

 

[momatik]

I'm not a professional so don't take my word as biblic literature, this is just what I think.

So from what I know, your body has it's own defenses. So when vaping, any large particles are going to be trapped by cilia and mucous as they make their way into the lungs. You'll cough this stuff out if too much of it accumulates.

Also alot of the buildup on the tube is resin, or THC in liquid/solid form. This stuff is obviously absorbed into the lungs, it's what gets you floaty.

I can second this.

Cilia are very important in catching impurities that come into our lungs.

What happens with smoking is the tar comes on too quickly, and poisons the cilia. This is why you get a bad cough in the morning if you smoke regularly. Your cilia cannot help move the mucus up and out of your trachea. So your body has to physically do it, by forcing you to cough.

I've never heard of anyone developing smoker's cough from vaping. I vape fairly often (2-3x a day), and I have noticed more mucus production. I do also combust once or twice a week. It also could be because of the change of weather, which is what I think it is. However, I've never woken up coughing, or coughed up some nasty looking phlegm.

 

[VWFringe]

my pot doc told me cilia would normally do a very good job of cleaning even pot smoke, unless i smoke cigarettes, in which case he said the health benefits from vaping are negated because the cilia are paralyzed by nicotine.
there;s some controversey about whether nicotine does or doesn;t have this or another effect, but lots of long term smokers report their cilia do not wake up after they quit cigarettes

i'd like to hear more about the actual effects IF they could really tell me it's a pot smokers lung and not something else also

 

[MeZJ Vape]

I switched to vaping in July and have noticed a significant increase in my general respiratory health. I do smoke cigarettes, however. But despite this, vaporizing alone has made me feel much better. If I combust now I swear I can feel it in my chest for a day and a half.

 

[sunsett70]

thank you for all the info and feedback. i feel much better now. hope to end my combustion days soon and make my vape purchase.

 

[Carbon]

Vaping is still going to affect your mouth, throat, and lungs just to a much lesser extent than smoking would. Some of that vapor is going to gunk you up inside, but there really isn't a better way to go about it unless you only do edibles. This usually isn't practical for people.

 

[SmokingElectricity]

I stopped smoking cigs last year, and also switched completely to vaporization in july, i feel like a million bucks. Feel like playing golf like in the gotvape.com vids.

 

[steiner666]

I stopped smoking cigs last year, and also switched completely to vaporization in july, i feel like a million bucks. Feel like playing golf like in the gotvape.com vids.

lmao, i love those videos, with their random, generic stock footage and pretend doctors. vaping does make me not feel like i'm going to die when doing any sort of activity tho, must agree

 

[bones]

Consider the wand and length of pipe or smoking path...

Now the delicious light brown residue there (honey) seems to be much closer to the wand, why? It may happen due to the distance from the original heat source, as the vapor is cooled there is less chance to collect somewhere else along the way to our lungs and tiny lung sacks.

If the whole tube filled with heavy resin, or worse bowl/combustion resin right up to my lips, then I would begin to worry.


----


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj9mVD8XXJM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZrSQ0A-KQ - this is proof enough for me... compare the 2! nothing is left on the napkin May the particulate matter be filtered out and the goodness absorbed and used for life!!! yey

 

[reloader]

Consider the wand and length of pipe or smoking path...

Now the delicious light brown residue there (honey) seems to be much closer to the wand, why? It may happen due to the distance from the original heat source, as the vapor is cooled there is less chance to collect somewhere else along the way to our lungs and tiny lung sacks.

If the whole tube filled with heavy resin, or worse bowl/combustion resin right up to my lips, then I would begin to worry.


----


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj9mVD8XXJM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZrSQ0A-KQ - this is proof enough for me... compare the 2! nothing is left on the napkin May the particulate matter be filtered out and the goodness absorbed and used for life!!! yey

I find this quite compelling as well. Also we breath in particulates all the time. Dust, pollen, chemicals in the air. Just being out on the highway behind diesel trucks. When you get a big whiff of diesel smoke from a truck, chances are their are particulates you are breathing in as well. Just pollution in general can have particulates depending on where you live. If anyone has ever bucked hay, and your snot is green for a day or two has breathed in all kinds of junk.
The point is vaporization is very easy on the throat and lungs because the vapor is not hot like smoke.

I like to go to the steam room a lot at my local health club, and I like to spray eucalyptus oil into the steam. Oil is extracted from the leaves of the eucalyptus tree and is very good for you, and breathing in the eucalyptus oil is good for your respiratory system and it cleanse the lungs because it is known to increases the oxygen intake through the lungs which is passed on to all the cells of the body. Really not a whole lot different concept then vaporizing weed, but their are just some plants and herbs that are good to inhale.

 

[Carbon]

I like to go to the steam room a lot at my local health club, and I like to spray eucalyptus oil into the steam. Oil is extracted from the leaves of the eucalyptus tree and is very good for you, and breathing in the eucalyptus oil is good for your respiratory system and it cleanse the lungs because it is known to increases the oxygen intake through the lungs which is passed on to all the cells of the body. Really not a whole lot different concept then vaporizing weed, but their are just some plants and herbs that are good to inhale.

This is not a fair comparison. A comparable vaporization of cannabis would be streaming vapor from your unit into a small room that you are in. Let's reverse it. Try grinding up a bit of eucalyptus and vaping that through your vaporizer directly into your lungs and tell me it's not at least somewhat irritating.

Vaporization is far better than smoking but is still not perfect and to suggest that it has no real effects on one's lungs would be a stretch.

 

[reloader]

I like to go to the steam room a lot at my local health club, and I like to spray eucalyptus oil into the steam. Oil is extracted from the leaves of the eucalyptus tree and is very good for you, and breathing in the eucalyptus oil is good for your respiratory system and it cleanse the lungs because it is known to increases the oxygen intake through the lungs which is passed on to all the cells of the body. Really not a whole lot different concept then vaporizing weed, but their are just some plants and herbs that are good to inhale.

This is not a fair comparison. A comparable vaporization of cannabis would be streaming vapor from your unit into a small room that you are in. Let's reverse it. Try grinding up a bit of eucalyptus and vaping that through your vaporizer directly into your lungs and tell me it's not at least somewhat irritating.

Vaporization is far better than smoking but is still not perfect and to suggest that it has no real effects on one's lungs would be a stretch.

I disagree, although the technique is different, the result is that you are still breathing the eucalyptus oil vapors into your lungs, when you spray the oil into the steam it creates an instant vapor that is inhaled, and can be felt in the lungs. I do agree the techniques are different, but the result is you are inhaling the vapor.

In 2007, a study by University of California, San Francisco published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Neurology examined the effectiveness of a vaporizer that heats cannabis to a temperature between 180 C (356 F) and 200 C (392 F) degrees and found:

"Using CO as an indicator, there was virtually no exposure to harmful combustion products using the vaporizing device. Since it replicates smoking's efficiency at producing the desired THC effect using smaller amounts of the active ingredient as opposed to pill forms, this device has great potential for improving the therapeutic utility of THC.
In 2006, a study performed by researchers at Leiden University, tested a vaporizer with preparations of pure THC and found that:

Our results show that a safe and effective cannabinoid delivery system seems to be available to patients. The final pulmonal uptake of THC is comparable to the smoking of cannabis, while avoiding the respiratory disadvantages of smoking."

 

[Carbon]

I disagree, although the technique is different, the result is that you are still breathing the eucalyptus oil vapors into your lungs, when you spray the oil into the steam it creates an instant vapor that is inhaled, and can be felt in the lungs. I do agree the techniques are different, but the result is you are inhaling the vapor.

In 2007, a study by University of California, San Francisco published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Neurology examined the effectiveness of a vaporizer that heats cannabis to a temperature between 180 C (356 F) and 200 C (392 F) degrees and found:

"Using CO as an indicator, there was virtually no exposure to harmful combustion products using the vaporizing device. Since it replicates smoking's efficiency at producing the desired THC effect using smaller amounts of the active ingredient as opposed to pill forms, this device has great potential for improving the therapeutic utility of THC.
In 2006, a study performed by researchers at Leiden University, tested a vaporizer with preparations of pure THC and found that:

Our results show that a safe and effective cannabinoid delivery system seems to be available to patients. The final pulmonal uptake of THC is comparable to the smoking of cannabis, while avoiding the respiratory disadvantages of smoking."

What I was trying to point out in the sauna example was that when vaporizing cannabis your vapor/air ratio is going to be a lot more concentrated as you take it into your lungs direct from the device than if you were just vaping stuff into a small room as with the sauna.

That study is referring to vaporization relative to combustion (smoking), which we all know is much more harmful. What I'm referring to is that vaporizing still irritates the throat and lungs to a small extent, even if actual harmful compounds aren't present as with smoke. I have coughed plenty of times from vaping, which means it is an irritant. I never cough when I've eaten a brownie. That is the difference I am referring to. Just keep in mind I said vaping isn't "perfect," even if it may be far closer than smoking is.

 

[reloader]

I guess it is different for everyone. I definitely found smoking to be an irriatant, but I do not find the same for vaping. I don't cough when I vape, nor do I find any throat discomfort. That being said I try to vape on the lowest temp and have added a hydrator as well.

 

[Carbon]

I guess it is different for everyone. I definitely found smoking to be an irriatant, but I do not find the same for vaping. I don't cough when I vape, nor do I find any throat discomfort. That being said I try to vape on the lowest temp and have added a hydrator as well.

What is your setup and at what temperature?

 

[PinkFloyd]

If I set my Vapir 1 to 170C/339F I get high just fine and it doesn't bother my throat. If I set it one degree higher than that, it irritates my throat and I cough.

I think this is the main reason people give up on vaping. If your temp is too high it will irritate your throat and lungs.

 

[Hippie Dickie]

i've also noticed a temperature threshold for irritation ... sure helps to have a temperature display and accurate temperature control.

 

[reloader]

I guess it is different for everyone. I definitely found smoking to be an irriatant, but I do not find the same for vaping. I don't cough when I vape, nor do I find any throat discomfort. That being said I try to vape on the lowest temp and have added a hydrator as well.

What is your setup and at what temperature?

I am using a vaporbrothers, with a hydrator, and I use ice cold water. I dont have a temp readout on my unit, but I set the dial to 10:30. I have found this to be the optimum temp.

 

[T4All]

The bottom line is, yes that stuff in the picture posted at beginning of this thread obviously DOES go into your lungs when vaping. It would be a case of severe denial to think otherwise. It doesn't magically disappear between the stem and your lungs/throat. Vaping, while cleaner than smoking, is still putting that gunk shown into your lungs especially when you do it every day. The bad part is that we can't clean our lungs manually like people do when soaking your stems into ISO.

 

[SD_haze]

If you took a pound of identical bud, and ran half through a vaporizer at high temp, and half at low temp, I'm sure the vapor stem of the 2nd would be a lot less resinous

Low temperature vapor has to be massively healthier for the lungs (especially water filtered, cloud im looking at you )