E-cigarettes may harm teens' lung health

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/ats-emh111716.php

Public Release: 17-Nov-2016
E-cigarettes may harm teens' lung health
American Thoracic Society

E-cigarette use among teenagers is growing dramatically, and public health experts are concerned that these devices may be a gateway to smoking. Now, new research indicates that even if these young e-cigarette users do not become tobacco smokers, e-cigarettes may harm their health.

In "Electronic-cigarette Use and Respiratory Symptoms in Adolescents," published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, lead author Rob McConnell, MD, professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and colleagues report an association between e-cigarette use and persistent cough, bronchitis and congestion or phlegm in the Southern California Children's Health Study.

"E-cigarettes are known to deliver chemicals toxic to the lungs, including oxidant metals, glycerol vapor, diketone flavoring compounds and nicotine," Dr. McConnell said.

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The study found that when compared to those who never tried e-cigarettes, the risk of the respiratory symptoms was

approximately 85 percent higher among past users, and
double among current users

These associations remained statistically significant for past users after being adjusted for smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and sociodemographic factors. The researchers also looked at wheeze, a narrowing of the airways often caused by an asthma exacerbation, but did not find a significant association with e-cigarettes after adjusting for the same confounding factors.

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