Utah study finds vaping can lead to long-term health problems

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SALT LAKE CITY — Lung injuries from e-cigarettes or vaping can lead to long-term problems, including breathing problems, cognitive decline and mental health problems, according to a study from Intermountain Healthcare.

The study was accepted into the Annals of the American Thoracic Society in May, after being presented in January. He found that the long-term impacts of e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI) can persist for a year or more.

“Even 12 months after a diagnosis of EVALI, most of our patients still had serious residual effects,” said Dr. Denitza Blagev, principal investigator of the study.

Blagev, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Intermountain, said most patients in the study had no significant comorbidities when they were diagnosed, so seeing serious problems after a year was concerning.

The study followed 73 EVALI patients treated at Intermountain Healthcare or University of Utah Health who had a 12-month follow-up appointment between July 2020 and August 2021. The patients involved in the study were mostly male and had an average 31 years old.

At a 12-month follow-up appointment, 48% of patients had breathing problems, and about a quarter reported significant shortness of breath. They were also diagnosed with mental health issues: 59% had anxiety, depression, or both, and 62% had experienced post-traumatic stress.

In a self-report survey, 13% of patients said they were unable to work, 16% reported difficulties dressing or bathing, 54% were still paying medical bills, and 44% reported mental difficulties, such as concentrating, remembering and making decisions .

“These are not minor complications, and they are still occurring even in patients whose injuries were not severe enough to require (intensive) care,” Blagev said. “These long-term problems are also occurring in relatively young people who could face a long life of ongoing complications.”

The study also found that 62% of patients continued to smoke, despite the continuing physical impact that vaping or smoking had on their health. More than half reported using marijuana, 35% reported vaping or using e-cigarettes, and 20% reported smoking.

Blagev said the statistics are alarming, but the high rate of vaping and tobacco use after diagnosis is not surprising.

“It’s not for lack of motivation or lack of understanding of how serious this could be, especially for patients who have depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, and who may be turning to those vaping behaviors to cope,” he said. .

However, he said that the participants who quit smoking were younger, showing the importance of targeted disclosure. Blagev said interventions should include awareness raising as well as more policies to reduce vaping and mental health problems in young people.

“We need to better address mental health issues among young people so they have more help than self-medication with vaping and marijuana use,” Blagev said.

The Intermountain Healthcare study also cited the National Youth Tobacco Survey showing that teen e-cigarette use is on the rise, with 11.3% of high school students and 2.8% of high school students reporting vaping in the past month.

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