{"id":724439,"date":"2026-06-09T04:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724439\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T04:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:24:18","slug":"vaping-causes-lung-and-heart-damage-faster-than-cigarettes-u-of-a-research-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724439\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaping causes lung and heart damage faster than cigarettes, U of A research suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"

E\u2011cigarettes have long been marketed as a safer alternative to traditional smoking<\/a>, but the results of a three-year University of Alberta study suggest vaping<\/a> may actually be more harmful.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe now know that early-life exposure to toxins can impair lung growth and predispose people to future lung disease,\u201d said Michael Stickland, a researcher and professor of pulmonary medicine at the University of Alberta.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s part of a U of A team that studied 20 e\u2011cigarette<\/a> users in their early 20s over about three years. None had previously smoked traditional cigarettes or marijuana.<\/p>\n

During the study, participants underwent a series of cardiovascular stress tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had them exercise at an intensity equivalent to a moderate walk, and yet they reported much greater breathlessness than you\u2019d expect in a 22- or 23\u2011year\u2011old,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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While standard clinical lung tests did not show abnormalities, Stickland said more detailed analysis revealed subtle but important reductions in blood flow and exercise tolerance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was quite surprising is these 23\u2011year\u2011old individuals had normal lung function, yet they showed marked exercise intolerance and greater breathlessness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Researchers found early lung impairments, including reduced blood flow, as well as heart dysfunction that could lead to more serious complications in the future.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tQuitting cigarettes? Why vaping is no longer recommended as alternative\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

It\u2019s alarming data in light of about one million Canadians vaping regularly, Stickland said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTeens and young adults who don\u2019t normally use traditional cigarettes are now vaping or using these electronic cigarettes,\u201d Stickland said.<\/p>\n

While the human body reaches its maximum height in the late teenage years, other parts continue to develop into early adulthood. Stickland said the lungs do not fully mature until about age 25.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat we\u2019ve now done is expose a whole new generation to potentially toxic substances being inhaled through the lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers also found damage appeared much sooner than would typically be seen in cigarette smokers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m a dad of two teenagers, and when I saw this, I was quite concerned,\u201d Stickland said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time in my career where I said we really have to keep [studying the effects], because the level of impairment we saw in their blood flow and exercise was concerning and suggested important changes in the lungs that we need to understand better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHealth Matters: 1\/3 of Canadian teens are vaping, according to Health Canada survey\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The University of Alberta team is now partnering with researchers at the University of British Columbia on a larger study to track e\u2011cigarette use and lung function over three years.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLocally, we\u2019re also going to study blood flow in the lungs to try to understand what\u2019s changed and what might lead to more serious lung disease in the future,\u201d Stickland said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"E\u2011cigarettes have long been marketed as a safer alternative to traditional smoking, but the results of a three-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,127780,84,3378,57361,261626],"class_list":["post-724439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-e-cigarette","tag-health","tag-smoking","tag-vaping","tag-youth-vaping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}