World No Tobacco Day 2020: Smoking e-cigarettes may increase risk of heart attacks, suggest studies

Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that create a nicotine-filled vapour that is inhaled, and are thought to be a less risky alternative to conventional cigarettes. However, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and cited by Harvard Health, daily use of e-cigarettes may nearly double a person’s risk of a heart attack. As per the study, even though e-cigarettes contain lower levels of carcinogens than conventional tobacco products, each vaping device releases ultrafine particles along with toxins that can actually damage blood vessels and encourage blood clotting, which may lead to heart attacks. [caption id=“attachment_8428941” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Daily use of e-cigarettes may nearly double a person’s risk of a heart attack, suggests a study[/caption] According to a research conducted by the University of California, San Franciso, e-cigarettes may be more dangerous than previously thought. The study, conducted with nearly 70,000 people, found that using both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes heightened heart attack risk. According to them, people who consume both cigarettes as well as vape are at a five-time higher risk of heart attack. Study author Stanton Glantz said that the findings are particularly troubling as most people who use e-cigarettes continue to smoke the conventional tobacco products as well. The study also cited a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that spoke of a range of health impacts that e-cigarette use had. This included exposure to nicotine and other toxic substances as well as symptoms of dependence. The report highlighted that youngsters who used e-cigarettes are at a higher risk of transitioning to smoking conventional tobacco products. According to an article published in ScienceNews, both vapers and smokers show signs of blood vessel damage, compared with people who do neither. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, saw researchers perform tests on the vascular systems of more than 400 healthy adults aged 21 to 45. Study authors found that abnormalities in vascular stiffness persist in e-cigarette users and the stiffness can damage small blood vessels and strain the heart. Studies have also claimed that young and middle-aged adults who vape and smoke are at a higher risk of a stroke than those who use only one of these types of nicotine product, or none at all. In the study, conducted by the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, most of the people who only used e-cigarettes were aged 18 to 24. Researchers found that while smokers of conventional cigarettes had a 59 percent higher stroke rate when compared to non-smokers, former smokers who currently only vaped had a two-and-a-half-fold higher risk of it.