Medical professionals across the globe are raising urgent concerns that vaping risks creating an entirely new generation of nicotine addicts, with children and teenagers facing the gravest danger of suffering long-term and “irreversible harm” to their health, according to Euronews.
Despite being frequently marketed as a safer alternative to traditional smoking, a growing body of evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are far from benign, with studies linking their use to cardiovascular complications, significant lung damage, and an elevated risk of cancer.
Professor Maja-Lisa Løchen, a senior cardiologist at the University Hospital of North Norway, emphasised the scale of available research.
“E-cigarettes have only been on the market for around 15 years, but already there are more than 15,000 research articles – and at least a thousand on health effects. We now know enough to conclude they are not a harmless product,” Løchen said.
The rapid normalisation of vaping among the young is starkly illustrated by recent survey data, which found that approximately 22% of 15 and 16-year-olds across 37 European countries now vape regularly, a notable rise from 14 per cent recorded just five years earlier.
This trend is reversing decades of progress in reducing smoking rates. In Norway, for instance, Løchen pointed out that vaping prevalence among youth has surged from nearly zero to about 11% in only four years, despite a domestic sales ban. Concurrently, cigarette smoking is beginning to tick upwards once more.
“The tobacco industry knows this – they market aggressively to children with sweet flavours and exciting designs. It’s no coincidence. This epidemic is being led and organised by the nicotine industry,” Professor Løchen stated.
While the complete long-term health implications of vaping may not be fully understood for decades, researchers already harbour serious concerns. The process of heating e-liquids can release harmful chemicals, including known carcinogens such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which can inflame blood vessels and contribute to cardiovascular disease.
Løchen stressed that vaping places stress on the cardiovascular system in ways strikingly similar to traditional smoking, noting that it “increases blood pressure, raises heart rate, and stiffens the arteries, all of which are risk factors for heart disease later in life.”
Moreover, nicotine — the primary addictive component — is especially damaging to adolescents. The US Surgeon General has warned that it can alter the developing brain, impacting memory, learning, and attention.
In Norway, where sales are officially banned, young people can still easily procure products online. Meanwhile, in the United States, flavoured e-cigarettes continue to be widely available despite repeated calls from public health officials for stricter controls.
“Right now, many still think it’s a safe product, or even a good tool for quitting smoking, but that’s simply not true,” Løchen concluded.
