By Debbie Bunch
March 31, 2025
Large Study Finds Vaping Does Not Help People Quit Smoking
Does vaping have a role to play in smoking cessation? Health experts have been debating that issue for years now. New research published by JAMA Network Open may push the needle towards those on the con side of the issue.
In a study involving more than 6,000 U.S. smokers participating in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, researchers from the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego found no evidence that vaping assists with quit attempts. They found it may promote continued smoking.
Among the smokers in the study, 943 reported also vaping. A comparison of those participants with non-vapers showed smoking cessation was 4.1% lower among smokers who vaped daily and 5.3% lower among smokers who vaped less often.
The study is considered especially meaningful because results were controlled to take a wide range of other variables associated with quitting, including whether participants were non-daily cigarette smokers, their interest in quitting (including a recent quit attempt), a smoke-free home, and socioeconomic factors.
“For example, if a smoker is already very interested in quitting, has a smoke-free home, and does not smoke daily, they are much more likely to successfully quit regardless of whether they vape or not,” explained senior author Karen Messer, PhD, professor of biostatistics in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health. “You have to make very sure you’re comparing like with like, and that’s why this analysis is so definitive.”
According to Dr. Messer and her colleagues, previous studies showing vaping did help people quit traditional cigarettes did not always take these confounding factors into account, which promoted misconceptions about the value of vaping in smoking cessation.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the impact of vaping on people,” said Natalie Quach, a third-year biostatistics PhD student at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and the study’s first author. “But what we do know is that the idea that vaping helps people quit isn’t actually true. It is more likely that it keeps them addicted to nicotine.” Read Press Release Read Fulll Paper
Circadian Rhythms May Impact Asthma Diagnosis
Most asthma attacks occur at night or in the early morning hours, something physicians have long attributed to cooler nighttime air and exposure to dust mites and allergens.
Some researchers believe circadian rhythms may also play a role, and now, a new study from British investigators suggests these natural body clocks may also impact the effectiveness of the standard pulmonary function test used to diagnose asthma.
The study analyzed data on 1,600 patients referred for asthma testing between 2016 and 2023. Results were adjusted to account for factors such as age, sex, body mass index, smoking history, and severity of the initial impairment in lung function.
All the patients underwent standard pulmonary function testing for bronchodilator responsiveness via spirometry and the administration of salbutamol via an inhaler or nebulizer to confirm the diagnosis of asthma.
The researchers began testing at 8.30 a.m. and continued testing throughout the day to gauge the likelihood of a positive response to the test over time. Results showed the chances of the patient’s lungs responding to the treatment decreased by 8% with every hour that passed.
Since they were already aware that the risk of an asthma attack changes between night and day, the researchers weren’t surprised to see the test results change as the day went on, but they were surprised by the size of the effect.
“This has potentially important implications,” said study author Dr. Ben Knox-Brown, from Royal Papworth Hospital. “Doing the test in the morning would give a more reliable representation of a patient’s response to the medication than doing it in the afternoon, which is important when confirming a diagnosis such as asthma.”
Further study also revealed that the seasons play a role. The researchers found that people were 33% less likely to respond to treatment with salbutamol in the autumn than in the winter.
Dr. Akhilesh Jha, another study author from the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospital, believes the results of this study add to the growing evidence that time of day or time of year can affect health.
“We know, for example, that people respond differently to vaccinations depending on whether they’re administered in the morning or afternoon,” he said. “The findings of our study further support this idea and may need to be taken into account when interpreting the results of these commonly performed tests.”
The study was published by Thorax. Read Press Release Read Full Paper
How Aspirin and Statins May be Impacting Chest Muscle Loss
Low-dose aspirin and statins are often recommended for older people, including those who smoke now or have smoked in the past.
Since cigarette smoking contributes to skeletal muscle wasting and dysfunction, an international team of investigators led by a researcher from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School decided to see how these two common medications in the elderly may be impacting that condition.
The study looked at chest CT imaging on 4,191 people participating in the COPDGene study. When the researchers examined pectoralis muscle area loss and pectoralis muscle density and compared those findings to the use of the drugs, results suggested statins may potentially reduce chest muscle loss while aspirin may contribute to it.
“Current and former smokers have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and are commonly prescribed statins and aspirin to treat these conditions,” said lead author Toru Shirahata, MD. “By further examining the impact of statins and aspirin on skeletal muscle mass, health care providers may be able to personalize treatments better to improve outcomes for these patients.”
The study was published by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation. Funding came from both the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the COPD Foundation. Read Press Release Read Full Paper
