The use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, has only continued to increase in popularity over the years. In the U.S., e-cigarettes are the second-most common form of tobacco use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over one million middle and high school students identify as e-cigarette users, with the percentage of adult users increasing from 4.5 percent in 2019 to 6.5 percent in 2023.
When it comes to traditional “combustible” cigarettes, the health risks are long-studied and well-defined. However, there is a lack of long-term studies on the health effects of vaping, especially for adults.
A new study out of Johns Hopkins Medicine gives us important insights into the health risks associated with e-cigarettes.
“There remains great uncertainty about the relative harm of e-cigarettes as compared to traditional smoking,” says Michael Blaha, senior author of the study and professor of cardiology and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in a press release. “Until now, there has been scant longitudinal data in large, high-quality datasets linking exclusive e-cigarette use to new-onset cardiometabolic health conditions.”
