Vape users suffer more inflammation of the lungs than people who smoke regular cigarettes, a study suggests.
University of Pennsylvania researchers said the electronic devices cause ‘unique’ damage to the lungs not yet fully understood.
The study is the latest evidence to highlight how vaping is not the risk-free cessation method it was initially touted as.
Other researchers have found e-cigarettes cause heart and lung damage on par with traditional cigarettes.
The researchers gave 15 people a tracing chemical that sticks to inflammation on the lungs and makes it visible on CT scans.
Participants were either vape users, traditional smokers or people who had never used either device.
Results showed significantly more inflammation in the lungs of vapers than smokers or non-smokers.
But interestingly, tobacco smokers did not suffer more inflammation than those that used neither device.
‘We find evidence that [e-cigarette] use causes a unique inflammatory response in the lungs,’ researchers wrote in the study.
More than 2.5million US minors use e-cigarettes, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published last year.
Experts have described the youth’s use as a crisis, and some warn America will face a surge in lung-related health issues in the future.