Like cigarettes, vaping linked to multiple chronic lung diseases - France 24

Washington (AFP)

A study that followed 32,000 Americans for three years shows that consumers of electronic cigarettes increased their risk of developing the same chronic lung disease as smokers, according to results released Monday.

In the United States a link between vaping and a dazzling and serious disease having caused 52 deaths (Evali) was established this year, but this disease is very specific to a type of refills, often illicit and sold under the coat, infused with cannabis and containing a toxic ingredient, vitamin E oil

The study published Monday is broader and statistical. It shows that vapers were 30% more likely to develop chronic lung diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared to people who did not vaporize.

When people smoke and smoke at the same time, which is common, the risk is tripled.

"We have concluded that e-cigarettes are harmful in themselves, with effects that occur independently of conventional tobacco use," says one of the authors, Stanton Glatz, professor of medicine and director of the research center. on tobacco from the University of California, San Francisco.

This is the first study to track vapers over time and show such a link, according to the authors, who publish their work in the journal American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The data comes from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) survey, which followed 32,000 American adults from 2013 to 2016.

The results show that substituting electronic cigarettes for normal tobacco reduces the risks ... but that this substitution is actually very rare.

"Very few people do it," says Stanton Glatz. "Most smokers add the electronic cigarette and become users of both, which significantly increases their risk of lung disease above the risk associated with smoking."

The biological mechanism remains to be clarified, but studies have been carried out on mice, and have notably highlighted a harmful effect of e-cigarette vapors on the immune system, which would promote infections.

© 2019 AFP