E-cigarette Use Tied to Poor Exercise Performance in Young Adults

MONDAY, Sept. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Young adults who smoke e-cigarettes (e-cigs) perform worse on exercise tests than those who have never smoked, according to a study presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress 2024, held from Sept. 7 to 11 in Vienna.

Azmy Faisal, Ph.D., from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the chronic impact of e-cigs and tobacco cigarettes (TC) on vascular function, inflammatory markers, and cardiorespiratory responses during exercise. The analysis included spirometry results from three groups of 20 young adults (e-cig users, TC smokers, and never-smoker controls [NS]). 

The researchers found that the e-cig and TC groups had significantly lower peak exercise capacity, oxygen consumption, and ventilation as well as significantly lower flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) compared with NS. In the e-cig and TC groups, there was an association between lower FMD with increased thrombospondin-1. Greater ventilation, lower ventilatory efficiency, and higher blood lactate were seen with the e-cig and TC groups. Additionally, the e-cig and TC groups were more breathless with intense leg fatigue during submaximal exercise compared with NS.

“Among the people who had been vaping or smoking for at least two years, we saw important differences in how well they coped with exercise,” said Faisal in a statement. “The smokers and the vapers had measurably excess breathing while using the exercise bikes. They found it harder to breathe, their muscles became more fatigued, and they were less fit overall. In this regard, our research indicated that vaping is no better than smoking.”

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