A new meta-analysis of multiple studies provides new evidence that vaping is dangerous to cardiovascular health.
Already singled out at the start of October in a study by British Medical Journal which highlighted its deleterious effects on lung health, the electronic cigarette would also have harmful consequences on the cardiovascular system.
This is according to new work carried out by the Ohio State University, and published in Cardiovascular Research, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology. According to their authors, there are now evidence of harmful effects substances contained in the e-liquid on the heart and blood vessels.
“E-cigarettes contain nicotine, particulates, metals, and flavorings, not just harmless water vapor,” says Ohio State University professor Loren Wold. “We know from air pollution studies that fine particles (less than 2.5 microns) enter the circulation and have direct effects on the heart. The data for e-cigarettes points in this direction.”
An inhalation with effects still unknown
While most studies have so far focused on the acute effects of vaping, none have been able to measure the consequences of chronic exposure to electronic cigarettes.
However, according to the authors of this new study, it is the regular exposure to the substances contained in the e-liquid which can, in the long term, have consequences on cardiovascular health. “Many companies do not publish the contents of their liquid, claiming that it is an exclusive product, continues Loren Wold. However, we need more uniform products to study the acute and chronic effects of each constituent separately and in combination. We cannot assume that ingredients like propylene glycol, glycerin and flavorings, which are inert when ingested orally, have the same effects when inhaled.”
According to him, other vaped substances are also to be incriminated: this is the case of nicotinewhich increases blood pressure and heart rate, or propylene glycol in e-liquid which causes stiffening of the arteries and systemic inflammation and can affect the lungs and pass into the bloodstream.
For stricter international legislation
For the authors of the study, these new data reinforce the idea that vaping is in no way trivial and should not be considered a safe alternative to tobacco.
They therefore advise people who have never smoked or pregnant women not to use e-cigarettes. “Animal research shows negative effects on the development of offspring,” says Nicholas Buchanan, co-author of the work.
For the European Society of Cardiology, it is now necessary to subject electronic cigarettes to the same marketing restrictions as cigarettes. It also calls for the harmonization of international legislation to “prevent a new tobacco epidemic”.
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