According to a large study on the effects of electronic cigarettes on heart health, people who use electronic cigarettes have a greater risk of developing heart failure, compared to people who have never vaped.
- People who use electronic cigarettes are more likely to suffer from heart failure, compared to people who do not use them.
- This observation is valid for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
- It corresponds to a stiffening of the heart muscle, which does not fill properly with blood between contractions.
Research on electronic cigarettes is progressing. Tuesday April 2, a new study on its effects on cardiovascular health was presented during the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology. This work constitutes one of the largest prospective analyzes of the possible links between vaping and heart failure. According to the authors’ conclusions, people who vape are more likely to suffer from it.
What is the link between heart failure and vaping?
“More studies link e-cigarettes to harm and conclude they may not be as safe as previously thought“, warns Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, doctor at MedStar Health in Baltimore in the United States and lead author of the study. In this work, the scientist and his team used data from surveys and electronic health records from a large American study called All of Us. In total, this represented 175,667 participants, aged 52 on average. Of these, 3,242 developed heart failure during a median follow-up period of 45 months.
According to their analysis, people who used e-cigarettes were 19% more likely to develop heart failure than people who had never used them. “In calculating this difference, researchers took into account various demographic and socioeconomic factors, other risk factors for heart disease, and past and current use of other substances, including alcohol and tobacco products.they specify in a communicated. According to them, it is not possible to demonstrate that the age, sex or smoking status of the participants modifies the link between the use of electronic cigarettes and heart failure.
Electronic cigarette: increased risk for a form of heart failure
“Breaking down the data by type of heart failure, the increased risk associated with e-cigarette use was statistically significant for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), in which the heart muscle becomes stiff and does not not filling with blood properly between contractions”, warn the authors of the study. In contrast, there was no significant association for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), in which the heart muscle weakens and the left ventricle does not squeeze as tightly as it should. should during contractions.
Additional studies on the effects of electronic cigarettes
Previous research on animals had already shown a link between heart failure and electronic cigarettes. For the authors of this study, these new results underline the ““Need for further investigation into the potential impacts of vaping on heart health, particularly given the prevalence of e-cigarette use among younger people”. Surveys indicate that approximately 5 to 10 percent of U.S. teens and adults use e-cigarettes.
