Pulmonologists are documenting a pattern of lung function decline in long-term e-cigarette users that differs from traditional tobacco-related lung disease but is nonetheless clinically significant. Research using high-resolution CT imaging shows patterns of airway inflammation and small airway abnormalities in e-cigarette users who have never smoked traditional cigarettes, establishing that vaping alone is capable of causing lung damage.
The findings have important implications for the 9.1 million American adults who use e-cigarettes regularly, many of whom adopted vaping specifically as a harm reduction alternative to smoking on the assumption that it was substantially safer. The evidence now suggests that while vaping is probably less harmful than heavy cigarette smoking, it is not a harmless activity and carries meaningful lung health risks that users and their physicians should discuss.
