Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada – November 12, 2019. Last week yet another published study raised concerns about health impact of e-cigarettes. Much of the attention this fall has been on injuries to the lung, especially the Ee-cigarette or vaping product associated lung injury (EVALI) that has been experienced by thousands of American vapers and a much smaller number in Canada. Less reported have been papers exploring risks to other parts of the body, or which look at longer-term health effects. This study Cardiovascular risk of electronic cigarettes: a review of preclinical and clinical studies considered past studies on animals and humans to explore the various ways in which long-term cardiovascular damage might arise from using e-cigarettes. It was commissioned from 6 researchers associated with the Ohio State University, written last spring and published last week in the journal Cardiovascular Research. The paper aims to fill what the authors (Nicholas D Buchanan, Jacob A Grimmer, Vineeta Tanwar, Neill Schwieterman, Peter J Mohler and Loren E Wold) describe as the “essentially unstudied” long-term effects of vaping on the cardiovascular system. |
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Enough evidence of harm to implement protective measuresAlready several comprehensive scientific reviews have been conducted about the health effects of vaping on behaviour of major health authorities like the World Health Organization(2015), Public Health England (2015, 2018), the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, Public Health Ontario (2018) and others. These reviews have provided regulators and practitioners with inconsistent and sometimes conflicting advice on the regulatory approach that should be taken with respect to e-cigarettes. The contributions of recent papers, like the one cited above, increasingly call for regulators and practitioners to insist on more evidence before acting as if e-cigarettes were less harmful. Last month, for example, a study lead by Jeffrey Gotts looking into the question “What are the respiratory effects of e-cigarettes? This team also cautioned that it is not possible at this time to “determine whether the respiratory health effects of e-cigarette are less than those of combustible tobacco products.” These recent papers and other key research findings are summarized in our new fact sheet, The Health Effects of Vaping. |
Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada – November 12, 2019.