At least a dozen medical studies over the past few years have found that vaping is associated with heart attack, stroke, hypertension, emphysema and other lung disease, as well as diabetes (see the list at the end of this entry).
The studies are cross-sectional; they are drawn from population samples at one point in time.
They only produce associations, but those are then inflated to imply or outright claim that vaping causes those disease conditions. The studies appeared in respected medical journals and, together, form a powerful disincentive for smokers to switch to vaping. They also add fuel to the regulatory fire to suppress vape products, which are actually vastly safer than cigarettes.
My research group has published a new analysis entitled, “Cross‑sectional e‑cigarette studies are unreliable without timing of exposure and disease diagnosis,” in the journal Internal and Emergency Medicine.
Our analysis shows that the dozen are irrevocably deficient and unreliable. Some used data from National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), or the FDA’s Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) surveys, all of which profile participants who smoked and/or vaped and who had ever been diagnosed with numerous diseases. However, there is absolutely no information in the NHIS or BRFSS about when participants started to smoke or vape, or when they were first diagnosed with a disease. Absent this critical data, it is impossible to demonstrate that smoking or vaping preceded the disease, and therefore had any role in causing it.
While authors of some of the studies tried to use a statistical sleight of hand by claiming that their results were “adjusted” for smoking, that is not a legitimate work-around for the missing cause-and-effect information.
Brad Rodu – Tobacco Truth – 2022-12-02.
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