Vaping-related deaths caused widespread panic in 2019. Major retailers like Walmart and Walgreens have stopped selling e-cigarettes, and policymakers have been spurred into action to try to combat the deadly effects.
But even if you are not a vape-every-day kinda person, a study from researchers at the University of California San Francisco offers an ominous warning: There are potentially fatal long-term implications for your lungs.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, utilized data from 32,000 adults collected by the FDA and NIH as part of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (PATH). After taking into account different lifestyle factors that could affect a person’s health, the research group determined vaping is a clear-cut cause of lung disease in adults no matter if they also smoked cigarettes or not.
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The longitudinal study began in 2013—only a decade after e-cigarettes first hit the market. And given the relatively short period it analyzed, the results were shocking.
Aaid Stanford Glantz, the study’s author and UCSF public health professor,
“I was a little bit surprised that we could find a longitudinal association with just two years of followup.
The fact that we can detect a signal in just two years shows that they’re really bad.”
The measurable impact of vaping is scary for both smokers and non-smokers.
Adults who have used e-cigarettes are 1.3 times more likely to develop lung diseases like asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Vape defenders may point to the fact that people who use cigarettes, pipes, cigars or other tobacco products regularly are 2.6 times more likely to develop one of these debilitating lung diseases.
Of course, neither option is ideal if you want to live a long, healthy life.
However, the dangerous dynamic of utilizing both e-cigarettes and traditional ones can lead to even more damage.
The study found that these dual users are 3.3 times more likely to develop lung diseases.
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“The reality is, millions of e-cigarette users are unwitting participants in an experiment,” said Harvard University professor of public health Joseph Allen. “And we don’t yet know the results.”
Providing this type of information to the public is critical, particularly with such a young demographic getting hooked on e-cigarettes.
Becoming aware of the long-term effects may help curb the desire to try vaping before it is too late.
