Vaping may pose a high risk for smoking in otherwise "low-risk" children

(HealthDay) – A new study indicates that the type of teenager least interested in smoking seems to be the most likely to try a cigarette after experiencing vaping.

Overall, researchers are four times more likely to try traditional cigarettes if they have ever used an electronic cigarette.

However, according to findings published online on February 1, "low-risk" adolescents are nearly nine times more likely to try smoking after their vaping JAMA Network open now.

These low-risk teenagers do not drink and do not use drugs, show little affinity for scary or exciting things, are not very interested in trends, are not curious about smoking and refuse to smoke. a cigarette they offer one to a friend, said lead researcher Andrew Stokes. He is Assistant Professor of Global Health at the School of Public Health at Boston University.

In spite of all this, there is something about electronic cigarettes or the vaping experience that seems to open the door to these kids, which makes them more likely to turn on at the same time. future, Stokes said.

"We really isolated a group of young people at very low risk, and within this group, experimentation with electronic cigarettes had a pronounced effect on subsequent cigarette consumption," Stokes said. "We believe that e-cigarettes have something unique – they are used without knowing the magnitude of their consequences."

The researchers concluded that no other product had ever shown such potential.

The huge recent popularity of Juul electronic cigarettes among teens has probably made the influence of vaping even stronger in low-risk teenagers, Stokes added.

The period of study was prior to the popularity of Juul, which is "a stronger product," he said. "It gives you a harder shot and potentially contains more nicotine than the products of the previous generation." The badociations we found here could become more pronounced with Juul, and we may have underestimated the severity of the problem compared to the previous generation. to the current situation. " "

For this study, Stokes and colleagues badyzed data from the Tobacco and Health Population Assessment Study, a series of ongoing smoking surveys co-sponsored by the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

The data followed two-year consumption of cigarettes and electronic cigarettes among just over 6,100 children aged 12 to 15 years.

None of the children had tried tobacco products during its first survey in 2013-2014, but teens answered a battery of questions designed to determine their likelihood of trying to smoke at home. to come up.

A second survey conducted in 2015-2016 badessed the number of children who tried to smoke or smoke in the meantime.

The results showed that children with vaping were four times more likely to experiment with smoking and three times more likely to smoke.

According to the study's authors, more than 43,000 young smokers began using tobacco after experimenting with the electronic cigarette during the two-year study period.

The results were more surprising when researchers compared low-risk children to those more likely to start smoking.

Children already prone to smoking were about 3.5 times more likely to take cigarettes after trying an electronic cigarette.

But investigators found that children with little interest in cigarettes were 8.5 times more likely to try smoking after experimenting with vaping.

Nicotine addiction is a potential explanation for this effect, said Dr. Christy Sadreameli, a pediatric pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and a volunteer spokesperson for the American Lung Association.

Previous studies have shown that many teens do not know that the vapor of electronic cigarettes contains the same addictive substance as tobacco, said Sadreameli.

"It's a reminder that electronic cigarettes create a very strong addiction, and that's one of the reasons we're concerned that teenagers are using them," said Sadreameli.

While nicotine plays a role, Stokes thinks that the influence of vaping is "more complex than nicotine".

Low-risk teens who try to vape and have a pleasurable experience might be less opposed to trying other tobacco products, Stokes said.

"Another possibility is that it reduces the inhibition," Stokes continued. "Once they have tried and have exceeded this limit, they could be more viable for future experiments."

Vaping could also place these children in new, more casual social groups for addictions.

"You may be more likely to get a cigarette and be more exposed to marketing the tobacco industry," Stokes said.

The new study is "another piece of evidence adding that it is urgent that the FDA take concrete steps to prevent the use of e-cigarettes and tobacco among our most vulnerable teenagers," said Sadreameli. .

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