University of Calgary study looks at potential negative health effects of vaping

A new study from the University of Calgary is taking a closer look at the health effects of vaping — in particular, mental health.

A strong evidence base supports the existence of an association between cigarette smoking and adverse mental health, according to professor Scott Patten, who headed up the study.

“We were curious whether the same thing or different would be seen with vaping,” Patten said.

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Patten’s study looked at a sample of about 50,000 people using data collected by Statistics Canada to assess depression symptoms, binge drinking, mood and anxiety disorders and perceived mental health.

READ MORE: Alberta government will address vaping in review of Tobacco Act

“They were all elevated in people who smoke e-cigarettes to a similar degree as they’re elevated in people who smoke cigarettes.”

Eighty per cent of those in the sample group who vaped also smoked. Those people generally had the worst mental health, according to Patten.

An unexpected finding of the study was the stronger possible negative effects of e-cigarette use on mental health based on gender.

“The negative effects that we saw associated with vaping were stronger in women,” Patten said.

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“I think that’s an interesting finding that needs to be explored in the future,” Patten added. “Because there may be a group that’s more vulnerable to adverse effects of vaping.”