Vaping does not lead to a meaningful rise in respiratory symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, a new international study has found.
The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, compared respiratory symptoms among adults who vape - but crucially, have never been regular smokers - with those who have never smoked or vaped.
Unlike previous studies, this study excluded participants who had previously smoked, addressing a major limitation in understanding the health effects of vaping exclusively.
It found that while vapers reported marginally higher frequencies of respiratory symptoms than non-vapers, the differences were “far below” the threshold of being clinically relevant.
No scientific link between vaping and smoking
The VERITAS project, led by the Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR), concluded that its results did NOT show a scientific link between vaping and respiratory symptoms.
Professor Riccardo Polosa, a leading author and founder of CoEHAR, said: "This research offers novel evidence that e-cigarette use in adults without a smoking history does not result in clinically significant respiratory symptoms."
Among the vapers, 83.3 per cent said they “rarely” or “never” experienced all five major respiratory symptoms of a morning cough, coughing throughout the day, shortness of breath, being easily winded, and wheezing.
This compared to 88.4 per cent of the control group of non-vapers who had never vaped or smoked.
The study said: “In this cohort of adults without a history of established combustible tobacco use, e-cigarette use was statistically linked to more frequent respiratory symptoms, though not in a clinically meaningful way.”
Disposable vapes were the most commonly used devices among participants (63.7 per cent reported using them as their main device), with flavours that were not tobacco or menthol being the most popular choices.
The study concluded: “.. this study provides important preliminary evidence that EC [electronic cigarette] use alone (i.e. without a history of established cigarette smoking or recent or regular use of other tobacco or nicotine products) is associated with a small absolute increase in self-reported frequency of respiratory symptoms that is not clinically different from an experience of respiratory symptoms reported by individuals who have never regularly used ECs or any other tobacco or nicotine products.”
‘Critical’ data lays the groundwork for more research
"This data is critical for shaping evidence-based public health policies, especially as we work to differentiate the effects of vaping from those of traditional smoking," said Polosa.
He added: “At the heart of public health debates, the lack of solid data on vaping's long-term consequences has stalled harm reduction strategies. The VERITAS project is set to change the narrative by providing key insights into the respiratory effects of nicotine vaping without the “noise” of prior smoking history.”
The pioneering study analysed a group of 500 vapers, who reported having vaped in the previous seven days, and 260 non-vapers across 29 countries.
It said previous studies that had reported a link between vaping and respiratory problems were “at least partly” clouded by the vapers having previously smoked.
It said: “.. concerns have been raised about the health risks of ECs with several papers reporting higher rates of respiratory conditions among people who use ECs than among nonusers.
“However, since the majority of adults who use ECs currently or formerly smoke cigarettes, this apparent association is at least partly confounded by cigarette smoking history.”
The findings come after a major new study found that smokers who switch to vaping experience improved respiratory health.
The paper, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research by Oxford University Press, observed a group of adult smokers in the U.S. who had reported a baseline cough or wheeze.
It found that participants who took up vaping instead of smoking saw significant improvements in their symptoms of wheezing.
