Smoking e-cigarettes increases the risk of heart failure, according to one of the largest studies to date.
Although it has not been published, the sample size and large amount of data in the study support this claim and demonstrate that this relationship needs to be studied urgently.
The results have been presented at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart failure, which affects more than six million Americans, is a disease in which the heart becomes too stiff or weak to pump blood, often leading to debilitating symptoms and frequent hospitalizations, especially as people age. gets older.
electronic products Nicotine products, such as electronic cigarettes, vapes or electronic pipes, deliver nicotine in aerosol form without combustion and since they began to be marketed in the late 2000s, they have often been presented as a safer alternative to tobacco.
But “More and more studies link e-cigarettes with harmful effects and discover that they may not be as safe as previously thought”warns Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, from MedStar Health (Baltimore, United States) and lead author of the study.
The research was based on data and electronic health records from All of Us, a large national study led by the National Institutes of Health designed to analyze the relationship between e-cigarettes and new diagnoses of heart failure.
Based on a sample of 175,667 participants (a mean age of 52 years and 60.5% women), the study found that 3,242 of them developed heart failure in a mean follow-up period of 45 months.
Study reveals that smoking electronic cigarettes increases the risk of heart failure
The study found that people who had consumed electronic cigarettes at some point were 19% more likely to develop heart failure than those who had never used them.
To calculate this proportion, the researchers took into account various demographic and socioeconomic factors, and other risk factors for heart disease and past and current use of other substances, such as alcohol and tobacco.
The results agree with previous studies carried out on animals, which indicated that the consumption of electronic cigarettes can affect the heart in a relevant way.
Other human studies have also shown links between e-cigarette use and some risk factors associated with heart failure, but none have been conclusive, which Bene-Alhasan said is due to inherent limitations in the study designs. cross-sectional studies, to the smaller sample size and the lower number of cases of heart failure observed in previous investigations.
For the team, the results of this study support the need for more research into the possible repercussions of vaping on heart health, especially given the prevalence of the consumption of electronic cigarettes among the youngest, which ranges between 5% and 10% of American adolescents and is increasing.
The study also points out that electronic cigarettes should not be used as a smoking cessation tooland remember that the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises combining counseling and medication as the best strategy to quit this habit.
And although the study does not conclusively demonstrate the relationship between e-cigarettes and heart failure, the researchers warn that the study indicates that there is a relationship.
(With information from EFE)
:
VAPORIZERS AND E-CIGARS COULD CAUSE GUM DISEASE
FDA ORDERS TO WITHDRAW JUUL COMPANY'S E-CIGARETTES
