New research underscores the harms of e-cigarettes, showing that vaping increases the risk of asthma in teens who have never smoked cigarettes.

New research underscores the harms of e-cigarettes, showing that vaping increases the risk of asthma in teens who have never smoked cigarettes.

Although e-cigarettes have fewer toxins than regular cigarettes, they still contain a mixture of harmful chemicals and raise the risk of respiratory diseases, researchers say.

“Increasing knowledge about the harmful effects of e-cigarette use, implementing stricter regulations, and promoting alternative coping mechanisms for mental health are potential interventions to mitigate e-cigarette use,” lead author Taehyun Roh, of Texas A&M University, said in a school news release.

Asthma causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing. It can be controlled by taking medicine and avoiding the triggers that can cause an attack, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • @fubo@lemmy.world
    23•2 years ago

    Nicotine is a bronchoconstrictor; it narrows the lung passages. While vaping nicotine avoids many of the harmful components of cigarette smoke (soot particles, carbon monoxide, resinous “tar”) it cannot avoid the effects of nicotine itself on the lungs.

  • @noneabove1182@sh.itjust.works
    10•2 years ago

    My biggest problem with vaping is that there’s basically no distinction made between ecigarettes that this article addresses and vaping dry herbs… would love to read up on it and any possible health concerns but rarely see it discussed

    • @fubo@lemmy.world
      13•2 years ago

      If you mean cannabis, it’s worth noting that the active ingredients in cannabis and tobacco have opposite effects on the lungs. THC is a bronchodilator (opens lung passages) while nicotine is a bronchoconstrictor (narrows them).

      This difference even shows up in smoking. Just consider the difference between the big lung-emptying coughs of a pot smoker who takes too heavy of a bong hit, and the tight hacking coughs of a cigarette smoker.

    • Madison_rogueOP
      3•2 years ago

      If you are talking about cannabis, there is some information out there on how vaping impacts health. I just did a quick Google search and found it…I’m sure there’s better evidence available out there, although it may be more anecdotal.

  • @jsdz@lemmy.ml
    8•2 years ago

    About 3,000 adolescents in Texas, ages 13 to 17, were questioned between 2015 and 2019. The researchers compared the results with responses from more than 32,000 teens in the broader United States.

    To me this appears garbled in the usual science journalism way, although it doesn’t change the overall gist of it which seems legit. They analyzed each population separately and found significant results in both populations. Reported vaping was associated with an additional chance of asthma of something approximately like 0.1% to 3% at the 95% confidence interval among US adolescents, the exact range depending on numbers not included in the excerpt provided on Science Direct.

    Edit: I initially thought the 15-19 age range, being the only one I saw mentioned in the excerpt, was the one studied. That does not appear to be the case. That complicates things in a way that makes it unclear precisely where the bounds of that confidence interval are when described in a way that quantifies the overall public health risk. Read the full study if you need more precise information.