The American Heart Association (AHA) has allocated approximately $17 million to study the health effects of e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery products on youth and young adults.
Over the next two years, researchers from Boston University, Ohio State University, and Yale University will participate in the End Nicotine Addiction in Children and Teens (ENACT) research initiative to gather scientific data on the practice of vaping and its effects on the heart, brain, lungs, and vascular system. The study will also explore behavioral factors and specific social influencers that contribute to vaping.
Dr. Robert Harrington, AHA volunteer president and chair of the department of medicine at Stanford University, expressed a sense of urgency, given estimates that as many as 25% of high school students vape.
"E-cigarettes are being marketed as a healthy option to traditional cigarettes, but no one knows if vaping is safe in the long run because e-cigarettes haven't been around long enough to be studied deeply," Harrington added in a statement. "There's certainly plenty of indication they are harmful for growing minds and bodies because we know e-cigarettes contain nicotine and we know the harmful effects of nicotine, but it's important we grow that overall body of scientific evidence."
