First recorded in a 1628 collection of Scottish proverbs, the saying "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride" could use a modern update.

All the wishing around vaping as a smart alternative to smoking tobacco has gone up in smoke and ... "If vaping were healthy, then smokers would thrive."

A recent study identified a whole new risk associated with vaping: prediabetes.

When researchers looked at data on 600,000 adults — 29% of whom were younger than 35 — they found that current e-cigarette users had a 20% increased risk of prediabetes compared with those who had never vaped. That's probably due to the body-wide inflammation and consequent insulin resistance that vaping causes.  

Why does this matter? It's just "prediabetes," after all.

Prediabetes comes with a full menu of health risks, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, skin aging and increased wrinkles, erectile dysfunction, and of course full-blown diabetes with its nerve, vision, kidney, heart, and brain complications.

A study in BMJ found that prediabetes was associated with a 13% increase in risk of all-cause mortality and a 15% increased risk of cardiovascular disease over 10 years.

Around 96 million Americans already have prediabetes — and many teens and young adults are now at increased risk for the condition because of vaping.

About 63% of vapers who have never smoked tobacco are ages 18-24. If you're not vaping, don't start. And if you are vaping and are addicted to the nicotine or habituated to the flavors, check out teen.smokefree.gov/; search for "How to Quit Vaping."