Vaping Raises Asthma Risks In Teens And Adults: Study

Side effects of vaping among teens and young adults increases the risk of asthma or asthma attacks, according to new research that suggests vaping may severely worsen preexisting health conditions.

In findings released last week by the Child Health Evaluative Sciences program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, researchers indicate teens and adults who vape develop an increased risk of developing asthma and have a higher chance of having asthma attacks.

The study was presented at the American Thoracic Society’s virtual conference, and has not been peer-reviewed, but the findings suggest an association between e-cigarettes and asthma. The authors are unsure if e-cigarettes cause it or not, but said vaping would undoubtedly worsen asthma over time.

Researchers used data from 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 cycles of the self-reported Canadian Community Health Survey. They included more than 17,000 people aged 12 and up.

More than three percent of participants in the study reported they used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days, which is equal to 1 in 32 people, and half of those people who use e-cigarettes also smoked traditional cigarettes.

Of the participants, 13% had asthma, and the findings suggest e-cigarette users had 19% higher odds of having asthma. Those who currently smoke had a 20% higher risk of having asthma, and those who formerly smoked had a 33% higher risk. The researchers found that about half of people who smoked e-cigarettes and had asthma reported asthma attacks in the past 12 months.

The researchers also determined those who have never smoked traditional cigarettes or e-cigarettes had no major associations with asthma.

The authors also studied the quality of mental health in users, finding 15% of those who used e-cigarettes have fair to poor mental health compared seven percent of those who did not vape. E-cigarettes users also faced 60% higher odds of self-reported high levels of stress.

Other studies published in recent years point to e-cigarettes increasing the likelihood teens will try smoking tobacco cigarettes, leading to widespread concerns about the increasing popularity of the products, as vaping became the most popular form of tobacco use among teens over the past decade. JUUL has been one of biggest marketers towards young adults and teens.

Marketing efforts by the manufacturer have been blamed for fueling the teen vaping epidemic, which has caused widespread disruption in schools, additional costs for local municipalities and left young adults addicted to high levels of nicotine in each JUUL pod, often leading to smoking and long-term health concerns such as asthma as suggested by the study.

The researchers suggested quitting vaping and smoking entirely is the only guaranteed solution to preventing the increased asthma risks.