Electronic cigarettes are all the rage for teenagers, adults, and even some senior citizens. Besides the supposed hip factor of vaping electronic cigarettes, many vapers are attracted because of the belief that they are inhaling lower levels of nicotine.
Public health officials have expressed their concern about the many possible unknown effects of electronic cigarette use. This is especially true because of the lack of research into this nicotine delivery system plus the lack of regulation of the ignition components and the nicotine-infused liquids that are heated to create the smoke. One potential effect of vaping nicotine may be its interfering with sleep. This was the conclusion of the recent published study “Association of Sleep Duration and the Use of Electronic Cigarettes, NHANES, 2015-2016” which sought to determine if there is an association between sleep duration and electronic cigarette use.
A retrospective study was conducted using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The questionnaire asked the subjects about their electronic cigarette use, hours of sleep, and other variables known to be associated with quality and quantity of sleep. This study was conducted on 2,889 participants whose ages were 18 to 65 years. More than half of the subjects were female. The researchers discovered that participants who never used an electronic cigarette were more likely to have appropriate sleep durations as compared with participants who were currently using electronic cigarettes. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables and cigarette smoking, current electronic cigarette use was associated with higher odds of shorter sleep duration, and these results were highly statistically significant.
Participants currently using electronic cigarettes were found to be more likely to sleep less as compared to participants who have never used electronic cigarettes. The implications are clear that with sleep time duration being a major factor for proper body function and repair, this study confirms that the use of electronic cigarettes is not a harmless health behavior.
Source: The Association of Sleep Duration and the Use of Electronic Cigarettes, NHANES, 2015-2016
NB: Among youth, e-cigarettes are more popular than any traditional tobacco product. In 2015, the U.S. surgeon general reported that e-cigarette use among high school students had increased by 900%, and 40% of young e-cigarette users had never smoked regular tobacco
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