Use of electronic cigarettes and asthma across the lifespan

In the last 15 years, the tobacco industry has marketed electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as a tool to help adults to quit cigarette smoking while also promoting their use in children and adolescents. As expected, this led to a marked increase in e-cigarette use (also called vaping) among children and adolescents in the United States. Although the prevalence of vaping decreased after the 2019 e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury epidemic and stricter regulations fueled by concurrent adoption of cigarette and marijuana smoking in youths, approximately 10% of middle- and high-school students in the United States report vaping. A growing body of experimental and epidemiologic evidence has implicated e-cigarette use in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, interstitial lung disease, and asthma. In this narrative review, we first evaluate the types and composition of e-cigarettes and trends in e-cigarette use and then assess findings from experimental and epidemiologic studies of e-cigarette exposure and asthma published to date. We end by discussing future directions for research in this field while emphasizing the need for prevention of and screening for e-cigarette use in youths and adults, particularly those affected with asthma.