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 Some previous research has found adolescents who try e-cigarettes
may be more likely to transition to traditional cigarettes than
their peers who haven’t used the devices. The current study focused
on teens who reported vaping recently to see if the amount of
nicotine in their “e-liquid” influenced their use of e-cigarettes
and traditional cigarettes over the next six months.
The adolescents who started out using e-liquid with high nicotine
levels were more than twice as likely to regularly smoke traditional
cigarettes by the end of the study as vapers who used nicotine-free
liquid, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics.
High nicotine liquid in e-cigarettes was also associated with 65
percent higher odds that teens would develop a regular vaping habit.
“The results of this study suggest that nicotine in e-cigarettes may
be responsible, at least in part, for the association between
e-cigarette vaping and later smoking of conventional cigarettes in
youth,” said study co-author Adam Leventhal, director of the
University of Southern California’s Health, Emotion, and Addiction
Laboratory in Los Angeles.
“Because nicotine may harm the developing adolescent brain and
increase the risk of attention problems and depression, continuous
exposure to nicotine, even through e-cigarettes, is a concern,”
Leventhal said by email. “Teens should not start experimenting with
nicotine and tobacco products in any form.”
Big tobacco companies, including Altria Group Inc, Lorillard Tobacco
Co and Reynolds American Inc, are all developing e-cigarettes. The
battery-powered devices feature a glowing tip and a heating element
that turns e-liquid into a cloud of vapor that users inhale.
The liquid may contain nicotine, flavorings, and other ingredients.
For the current study, researchers examined data on 181 students
from high schools in the Los Angeles area who were surveyed once
during tenth grade and again in eleventh grade.
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All of the participants had vaped at least once in the past 30 days
when they were initially surveyed. They reported nicotine
concentrations for their e-liquid, ranging from none to as high at
least 18 milligrams per milliliter.
Beyond its small size, another limitation of the study is its
reliance on youth to accurately recall and report on what was in
their e-cigarettes and how often they vaped or smoked, the authors
note. It’s also possible that factors not measured in the study
might influence whether teens developed more regular vaping or
smoking habits over time.
Still, this study adds to evidence that e-cigarettes are not
risk-free, said Thomas Wills, a researcher at the University of
Hawaii Cancer Center in Honolulu and the John A. Burns School of
Medicine.
Many people who try e-cigarettes don’t go on to become heavy
smokers, Wills, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
“But even experimenting will increase your odds of becoming a
smoker,” Wills added. “These studies show that if you start using
e-cigarettes, even infrequently, you are stepping onto a slippery
slope and it is hard to tell where you will end up.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2lbz9VC JAMA Pediatrics, online October 23,
2017.
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