A new study from Oxford University has found that people who vape are more than twice as likely to get a serious lung illness called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
This illness makes it hard to breathe and can get worse over time. The research focused only on people who had never smoked cigarettes—only vaped—making the findings clearer than before.
Dr. Stuart Jones, a lung doctor, said this is one of the first big studies to show how vaping alone can cause lung damage. In the past, many studies looked at people who had both smoked and vaped, so it was hard to tell what caused the problems. This study shows that vaping by itself is risky.
Although smoking cigarettes is still more harmful—smokers are up to five times more likely to get COPD—vaping is not a safe option either. The study also found that people who both smoke and vape, called “dual users,” are at the highest risk. This is because smoking and vaping harm the lungs in different ways, making the damage worse when combined.
Dr. Jones gave a clear warning: “If you don’t smoke, don’t start vaping. If you do vape, don’t also smoke.”
