Lung damage caused by electronic cigarettes in non-smokers, a Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: The use of electronic cigarette by non-smokers is increasing under the belief that these are a harmless alternative to tobacco. It has been evidenced that the use of electronic cigarette causes damage to systemic health, but, up to date, a systematic review about how “vaping” affects non-smokers’ health has not been conducted. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the available evidence to determine the lung damage that electronic cigarettes cause in non-smokers’ health. Material and methods: We conducted a research of the available evidence on different online searching engines such as PubMed based on the MeSH terms. We selected studies which met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: 14 articles were included, of those 7 were clinical trials and 7 were cross-sectional studies. The total of patients included was 2640 with an average age of 28 years old, 54% were female. None of the patients were ex or current smokers. The most common symptoms found on vapers were dizziness (75,5%), sore throat (38,8%) and shortness of breath (28,4%). Medium FEV₁/FVC found on the spirometry was 85% and medium FeNO was 17,5 ppb. Conclusion: Even though measured variables do not show severe respiratory damage associated with vaping in non-smokers, electronic cigarettes’ safety cannot be assured due to the lack of available evidence