Functional respiratory abnormalities in adults who vape daily

Despite the widespread use of vaping, a very limited number of clinical studies have investigated the effects of this habit on the lungs of healthy individuals. Our group recently initiated the Vaping Adverse Lung and Heart Events Cohort (VapALERT), a prospective study aiming to identify the impacts of vaping on respiratory and cardiovascular health. We elected to report early findings from the pulmonary function tests performed at the initial visit of the first 83 participants recruited so far. Almost 80% of volunteers with no diagnosis of lung disease and who vape daily have an abnormal airway reactivity to metacholine and/or lung clearance index and/or diffusion capacity. We can conclude from this study that adult individuals who vape daily are very likely to present asymptomatic functional respiratory abnormalities, especially airway hyperresponsiveness, ventilation heterogeneity and reduced gas diffusion regardless of past or current tobacco and/or cannabis smoking. Longitudinal studies are crucial to determine how respiratory abnormalities observed in individuals who vape will progress over time.