Vaping leads to respiratory symptoms as early as adolescence

Vaping attracts more and more French people

More than four out of ten French people aged 18 to 75 (41.2%) said they had already experienced vaping in 2022, compared to 38.7% in 2021, according to estimates published in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) of Public Health France, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day. As for daily vaping, it concerned 5.5% of adults of the same age in 2022, compared to 5% in 2021, and 2.5% in 2016. A figure that is constantly rising which is leading scientists around the world to look into potential health effects of e-cigarettes. The latest study reveals an increased risk of bronchitis and shortness of breath in adolescents and young adults who vape, whether or not they simultaneously smoke traditional cigarettes or cannabis.

Effects on the respiratory health of young people

A team of researchers from several American universities followed the respiratory health of 2,097 students aged 17 on average who participated in the Southern California Children’s Health study between 2014 and 2018. They were asked a questionnaire about their consumption of tobacco products and their respiratory symptoms in 2014, then other information was added – including their cannabis use – during the various waves of the survey in 2015, 2017 and 2018 for a majority of them. Note that for each questionnaire, they were asked to indicate their consumption of cigarettes and e-cigarettes during the last 30 days.

Posted in the medical journal Thorax, their work ultimately focused on analyzing data from 2,094 young people, 476 of whom said they had already suffered from asthma from the first wave of the survey. Symptoms observed included wheezing and shortness of breath, the prevalence of which varied from one wave to another, while symptoms related to bronchitis were the most frequently mentioned for each wave (between 19.5 % in 2014 to 26% in 2018). As for the use of electronic cigarettes, it went from nearly 12% in 2014 and 2015 to more than 15.5% in 2018. And the verdict seems final, since researchers report a risk of breathing 81% higher wheeziness among e-cigarette users compared to non-vapers.

Confirmed effects in non-smokers of tobacco or cannabis

The finding is the same for symptoms related to bronchitis (a risk twice as high) and shortness of breath (a risk 78% higher). Importantly, beyond adjustments related to age, sex, or origin, the researchers sought to take into account the simultaneous consumption of cigarettes and cannabis, as well as passive smoking. As a result, these “additional adjustments (…) slightly weakened all observed associations, but these remained statistically significant, except for those related to wheezing”, can we read in a press release. And to add: “And the effect estimates for vaping were slightly stronger in people who had not used cigarettes or cannabis in the past 30 days, which may have an influence.”

Better assess long-term effects

However, the study has limitations, if only because it is observational work that cannot establish a direct cause and effect relationship between vaping and respiratory symptoms. But also because they are based on declarative and self-assessment questionnaires. It will therefore be necessary in the future to conduct additional research to confirm these initial results, although researchers are now calling for monitoring and taking into account the impact of vaping products on respiratory health.

“This study contributes to emerging evidence from human and toxicology studies that e-cigarettes cause respiratory symptoms that merit consideration in e-cigarette regulation. It suggests that regulatory assessments of the health cost for the population underestimate the effects of the consumption of e-cigarettes, cannabis and tobacco products in late adolescence and early adulthood”, conclude the authors of this work.