Grant: Catalyst Grant: Health Effects of Vaping

Smoking is key to developing heart disease, lung disease, and cancer, with the number of people smoking highest in healthy young adults (20-24 years old). E-cigarettes (e-cigs) have been suggested as potential helping people stop smoking. However, we really don't know how safe e-cigs are and the recent E-cigarette, or Vaping, product use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) events in the US and Canada have increased the need for more e-cig safety data. Our study will look at how smoking e-cigs versus regular cigarettes versus nothing affects heart, blood, lung, and immune function during episodes of low intensity exercise and mental stress in young, otherwise healthy individuals who smoke. We will also test non-smokers (who won't smoke but will do the exercise and mental stress task). In total, we will include 105 smokers and 35 non-smokers and we expect that half of these will be women. This will be one of the first studies to assess the acute effects of e-cigs use (compared to regular cigarettes and doing nothing) influences stress induced physiological responses. Findings will generate new data that can be used to inform the safety debate about e-cig use, both in comparison to combustible cigarettes and to not smoking, that may be used to inform stakeholders (legislators, clinicians, patients) about their potential harms (or benefits) of e-cigs, which may lead to appropriate regulation and use.