SATURDAY, Nov. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Vaping significantly increases the risk of lung disease, according to a new study that adds to growing evidence that e-cigarettes are dangerous.

Researchers from Boston University analyzed data gathered from more than 21,600 U.S. adults between 2013 and 2018 and found that those who'd used e-cigarettes in the past had a 21% increased risk of respiratory disease, and current e-cigarette users had a 43% increased risk.

In terms of specific diseases, current e-cigarette use was associated with a 33% increased risk of chronic bronchitis risk, a 69% increased risk of emphysema risk, a 57% increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk, and a 31% increased risk of asthma.

"This provides some of the very first longitudinal evidence on the harms associated with e-cigarette products," said study author Andrew Stokes, an assistant professor of global health at the university's School of Public Health.

"In recent years we have seen dramatic increase in e-cigarette use among youth and young adults which threatens to reverse decades of hard-fought gains," Stokes added in a university news release.

"This new evidence also suggests that we may see an increase in respiratory disease as youth and young adults age into midlife, including asthma, COPD and other respiratory conditions," he said.

Most previous research on the potential dangers posed to the lungs by vaping have used animals or cells, or were based on only short-term clinical studies of people.

E-cigarettes are marketed as less harmful that traditional tobacco cigarettes.

"With a longitudinal study design and extensive sensitivity analyses, the study adds to a growing body of evidence indicating long-term health risks of e-cigarette use to the respiratory system," said study co-author Wubin Xie, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Global Health.

The study was published Nov. 12 in the journal JAMA Network Open.

More information

For more on the dangers of e-cigarettes, see the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

SOURCE: Boston University School of Medicine, news release, Nov. 12, 2020