Vaping could be giving youngsters bronchitis – even if they already smoke, warns a new study.
American scientists are calling for regulators to oversee the respiratory effects of vaping products, in light of one of the first studies to investigate vapers who also smoke cannabis or cigarettes.
Vaping’s “cost” on lung health remained high regardless of whether users have asthma.
Participants were 81 percent more likely to wheeze if they had puffed e-cigarettes in the past 30 days versus those who had never used the nicotine products.
Struggling for breath while hurrying on flat land or walking up a slight hill was considered wheezing
Bronchitic symptoms were twice as likely among those who used the synthetic devices in the past 30 days, defined as a daily cough for three months in a row, suffering bronchitis in the past 12 months, or experiencing congestion or phlegm without having a cold
If they used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days they had a 78 percent higher chance of to suffer shortness of breath.
Vaping had a slightly harder toll on the lungs among those who didn’t smoke weed or cigarettes, too.
Latest estimates indicate 14 percent of high school students vaped in 2022, and it is known that substances in the aerosol products harm the lungs.
Study author Dr. Alayna Tackett said: “This study contributes to emerging evidence from human and toxicological studies that e-cigarettes cause respiratory symptoms that warrant consideration in regulation of e-cigarettes.
“It suggests that regulatory assessments of the population health cost underestimate the effects of late adolescent and young adult e-cigarette, cannabis and tobacco product use.”
Until now, research has focused on people who exclusively puff e-cigarettes.
Scientists tracked the respiratory health of study participants between 2014 and 2018.
In 2014, 2,097 students with the average age of 17 completed a survey on their use of tobacco products and respiratory symptoms.
Further information was collected from 1,609 of them in 2015, 1,502 in 2017 and 1,637 in 2018 – half were women.
At each wave, participants were asked about how they used e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes over their lives and in the past 30 days.
Questions on cannabis consumption were added during wave three.
Dr. Tackett, of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center added: “Bronchitic symptoms were the most commonly reported at each questionnaire: 19.5 percent, 22.5 percent, 23.5 percent and 26 percent respectively.
“Just under 12 percent had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days in 2014 and 2015, but by 2018 this was up to 15.5 percent.”
The research team cautioned that the results, published in the journal Thorax, were limited by it being an observational study relying on self-reported questions.
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
