Even when there is no nicotine in cigarettes, warn the authors of a new study.
Despite common beliefs that vaping is safer than traditional smoking, researchers found that vaping had a “significant” effect on blood vessels and could also decrease the amount of oxygen the vaper’s lungs receive.
The vascular system consists of vessels that carry blood and lymph fluid throughout the body. Electronic cigarettes, also known as vapes, contain significantly fewer chemicals and toxins than are found in tobacco smoke.
As a result, many people believe that they are less harmful than smoking. Vapes also come in a wide range of different flavors, making them popular among young people.
But the new research, which will be presented at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago next week, is the latest to suggest they have a negative impact on health.
“Electronic cigarettes have long been marketed as a safer alternative to regular smoking,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Marianne Nabbout of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.
“Some believe that e-cigarettes do not contain any of the harmful products, such as free radicals, found in regular tobacco cigarettes because combustion is not involved.”
While vaping exposes users to fewer toxic chemicals than cigarettes, Dr. Nabbout says it can still be harmful to vascular function and overall health.
In the study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Nabbout and her colleagues sought to identify the acute effects on vascular function of smoking and the immediate effects of vaping e-cigarettes, with and without nicotine.
A total of 31 healthy smokers and vapers, aged 21 to 49 years, have been included to date.
During three separate sessions, participants underwent two MRI examinations, one before and one after episodes of smoking/vaping: tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarette aerosol with nicotine, and e-cigarette aerosol without nicotine.
A cuff was placed on the upper thigh to restrict blood flow.
Once deflated, femoral artery flow velocity (a measure of how fast blood flows in the femoral artery) and venous oxygen saturation (a measure of how much oxygen in the blood returns to the heart after it oxygenates the body’s tissues) were measured. evaluated.
Blood flow in the brain was also measured with a special type of MRI called a phase-contrast MRI.
The smokers’ and smokers’ data were then compared to the baseline scans of 10 non-smokers and non-vapers ranging in age from 21 to 33.
After inhaling any type of vaping or smoking, the findings showed there was a “significant” decrease in resting blood flow velocity in the superficial femoral artery, which runs along the thigh and supplies oxygenated blood to the entire body. below.
The decrease in vascular function was more pronounced after inhalation of e-cigarettes containing nicotine, followed by e-cigarettes without nicotine.
The decrease in venous oxygen saturation was also present in vapers regardless of whether or not e-cigarettes contained nicotine.
The research team suggests an “immediate” decrease in oxygen uptake by the lungs after vaporization.
“This study serves to highlight the acute effects that smoking and vaping can have on a variety of vascular beds in the human body,” said Dr. Nabbout.
“If acute consumption of an electronic cigarette can have an effect that manifests immediately at the level of blood vessels, it is possible that chronic use can cause vascular disease.”
Speaking to CNN, she added, “Even if there was no nicotine in e-cigarettes, there could be other ingredients that could be harmful. That’s why I think we saw these significant effects, even when subjects weren’t choosing the nicotine-based e-cigarette.”
Dr. Nabbout says the message to the public is that vaping may not be harmless.
“Ultimately, we are relying on science to help guide the regulation of such products in favor of public health,” she said. “It is always recommended to refrain from smoking and vaping.”
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