Vaping by college students can cause a loss of cognitive abilities. A study by Paucar and colleagues in Ecuador showed that vaping by college students adversely affects learning, memory, problem-solving, and critical thinking.
Students who take 10 to 20 puffs per day score 9% lower on cognitive tests than students who don’t vape and don’t smoke cigarettes. Those students who vape more than 20 puffs per day have 14% lower scores.
Previous research has shown that smoking cigarettes can cause brains to shrink, and less blood flows to brain cells. Nicotine itself is toxic to brain cells.
The study done in Ecuador involved over 400 college students age 18-30. Of these students, 64 only vaped, 31 only smoked, and 111 did both. About half of the students did not vape or smoke; they were the comparison subjects.
To me, the bottom line is that smoking and vaping are both bad for the brains of college students.
This information was published in HealthDay by Dennis Thompson on September 16, 2024. He reported on a news release by the American Neurology Association on Sep. 15, 2024.
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
