Long-term health risks of e-cigarettes after smoking cessation
Pam Ling, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, is a co-author of a new article published in Nature Medicine this week titled “Long-term health risks of e-cigarettes after smoking cessation.”
Using data from the mandatory South Korean National Health Insurance Service, the authors found that former smokers who used e-cigarettes had a higher risk of lung cancer and mortality than those who did not use e-cigarettes. Among former smokers, those who used e-cigarettes had 56% higher risk of lung cancer incidence and 22% higher risk of all-cause mortality than non-users. Compared with current smokers, former smokers who did not use e-cigarettes had 44% and 37% lower risk of lung cancer incidence and all-cause mortality, respectively. However, the observed risk reduction was attenuated among those who used e-cigarettes (12% and 23% lower risk of lung cancer incidence and all-cause mortality, respectively, compared with current smokers).
The results from this study reinforce the World Health Organization guideline that behavioral support and evidence-based pharmacotherapy should remain the cornerstone of tobacco dependence treatment.