Results are now in from the Veritas Cohort Study, a large international research project on e-cigarette use launched in 2023 to document the long-term health effects of vejp and e-cigarette use among former non-smokers. So far, the results show few negative consequences for the airways and respiratory system.
Such as the Road Column reported already in 2020 The Veritas Cohort study is a research project launched by Coehar (Centre of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction) in Italy. The study is led by respiratory physician and professor of internal medicine Riccardo Polosa, who has been conducting world-leading research in the field of electronic cigarettes since 2009.
Unlike many other studies, this one focuses on "The Veritas Cohort Study" only on vejp users who had not previously smoked or used nicotine in any other way. The aim is to measure the health effects of e-cigarette use over a longer period of time without having to take into account any consequences of the users' previous smoking behaviour. The project is Coehars most ambitious to date with around 750 participants from 27 different countries.
A first, but important, piece of the puzzle
Studying the effects of 1TP8 vapour alone on the airways and lungs is relatively uncharted territory in research. This is because a large proportion of the world's vejp users are former smokers who have quit. Their lungs and airways are likely to have been damaged by prolonged exposure to tobacco smoke. The Veritas study therefore compared people who had used e-cigarettes for at least three months, but had never smoked, with a control group of people who had not used nicotine or tobacco at all.
Few participants had respiratory problems
According to the Veritas project itself, the study recently published in Scientific Reports offers a first, but important, piece of the puzzle to understand how exclusive e-cigarette use affects health. In short, it can be broken down into two findings.
The first is that the researchers see a minimal incidence of perceived respiratory symptoms in the vejp group. The majority of participants, 83.3 per cent, reported that they 'rarely' or 'never' experienced respiratory symptoms such as cough or shortness of breath.
No relevant differences between the groups
The study also found no clinically relevant differences between the vejp group and those who did not use nicotine at all. E-cigarette users had slightly higher mean scores on the Respiratory Symptom Evaluation Scale (RSES) compared to the control group who never smoked. However, the difference was below the threshold of so-called clinical relevance, suggesting that e-cigarette use did not cause any significant respiratory problems in that group.
"VERITAS lays the groundwork for longitudinal research to further assess the long-term effects of e-cigarettes on the respiratory tract. These results are important for shaping public health policy based on scientific evidence, especially as we work to distinguish the effects of vejping from those of traditional smoking", said Riccardo Polosa in a press release.
More research needed to get the full picture
The research team emphasises that more studies are needed in this area and that this study focuses on perceived health effects, primarily regarding respiratory symptoms. Among the respondents in the vejp group, popular patterns of use could also be traced. It appears that disposable e-cigarettes with fruity flavours were the most used variants among the participants.
"The VERITAS project is unique not only in its scope, which spans six geographically distinct areas. It also provides data on the real-life use of e-cigarettes, including the most common variants - refillable, disposable and pod systems, as well as different flavour preferences and variations across socio-cultural groups." says Mr Jeffrey Samora, one of the authors of the report.
Sources for this article:
Respiratory symptoms among e-cigarette users without an established smoking history in the VERITAS cohort
The VERITAS project changes the rules of vaping: no significant respiratory symptoms reported by exclusive vapers
Reds note:
The Coehar Institute at the University of Catania in Italy is partly funded by Global action to end smoking, GATES. GATES is an independent scientific organisation and foundation with the aim of "accelerating the end of smoking". GATES' predecessor, the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, was initially funded by a grant from Philip Morris International (PMI). However, this co-operation has ceased since the Foundation changed management and name. However, research with partial links to industry-supported sources should always be read with the economic context in mind. At the same time, we are surrounded by studies in all kinds of fields that are wholly or partly funded by individual companies, which should not be equated with research being less robust or serious per se.
