Health impact of E-cigarettes: a prospective 3.5-year study of regular daily users who have never smoked

Introduction:
This text is a scientific report on a prospective 3.5-year study investigating the health impact of long-term electronic cigarette (EC) use in a cohort of daily EC users who have never smoked and a reference group of never smokers and non-users of EC. The study includes health outcomes such as blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, lung function, respiratory symptoms, exhaled breath nitric oxide (eNO), exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO), and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the lungs.

Key Points:

* The study included a cohort of 9 daily EC users who have never smoked and a reference group of 12 never smokers and non-users of EC.
* Health outcomes were measured at baseline and at three follow-up visits over 3.5 years.
* No significant changes were observed in any of the health outcomes investigated in the EC user group.
* No pathological findings were identified on HRCT of the lungs and no respiratory symptoms were consistently reported in the EC user group.
* The study suggests that long-term use of EC in relatively young users who did not also smoke tobacco does not demonstrate any health concerns.
* However, the study cautions that it cannot exclude the possibility of harm occurring at later stages.
* The study highlights the difficulty of disentangling responses driven by chronic exposure to EC aerosol emissions from those related to previous smoking history.
* The study is the first to explore health effects of prolonged exposure to EC use in never smokers.

Main Message:
The main message of the study is that long-term use of EC in relatively young users who did not also smoke tobacco does not demonstrate any health concerns. However, further research is needed to fully understand the potential long-term health effects of EC use, particularly in users with a history of smoking. The study also highlights the need for careful consideration when interpreting the health effects of EC use due to the difficulty of disentangling responses driven by chronic exposure to EC aerosol emissions from those related to previous smoking history.

Polosa, Riccardo, Fabio Cibella, Pasquale Caponnetto, Marilena Maglia, Umberto Prosperini, Cristina Russo, and Donald Tashkin. “Health Impact of E-Cigarettes: A Prospective 3.5-Year Study of Regular Daily Users Who Have Never Smoked.” Scientific Reports 7, no. 1 (November 17, 2017): 13825. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14043-2.