US research that has said vaping can lead to “worrisome changes” in blood pressure and heart function has drawn criticism from British scientists who told i the evidence remains that e-cigarettes are significantly safer than smoking.
The 4.3 million people who are now vaping in the UK would be forgiven for being confused after reading alarming headlines about how e-cigarettes can lead to “worrisome changes” in blood pressure and heart function.
Senior academics in the UK expressed dismay after suggestions by a US team of researchers that measurements of heart rate and blood pressure cast doubt on findings that smoking is much more dangerous than vaping. Scientists at King’s College London, who recently carried out the largest review of its kind into vaping, were “in despair” at the coverage the US analyses has generated, i has been told.
The US team had compared cardiovascular function in people who vape, people who smoke and people who did not use any nicotine and said they found “significant negative health impacts” among participants after vaping and smoking traditional cigarettes.
People who vaped or smoked were found to experience greater increases in both heart rate and blood pressure, whereas those who reported no nicotine use saw no changes. Regular users of nicotine also experienced worse measures of heart rate variability and a constricted brachial artery – the major blood vessel supplying blood to the arms and hands.
“These findings suggest worse cardiovascular disease risk factors right after vaping or smoking,” said lead study author Matthew Tattersall, from the University of Wisconsin.
Study participants were also put through an exercise stress test after 90 minutes. Those who smoked or vaped performed significantly worse on all metrics, including how quickly heart rate recovered after exercise and how hard the heart had to work at peak levels.
The research team said the analyses, to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions this week, cast doubt on presumptions that vaping is significantly safer than smoking. However, UK-based scientists were critical of how the research, at abstract stage, had been introduced.
Professor Peter Hajek, from the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London, told i the US researchers had been “irresponsible”.
He said: “Like a number of such previous reports, the heart rate part is just noting a well-known short-term effect of nicotine that accompanies all types of stimulation. The same effect is generated by watching a thriller or a football match or sitting an exam. Drinking a cup of coffee actually produces a larger response of much longer duration.
“The key heart health risks of smoking are not caused by nicotine but by other chemicals in tobacco smoke that are not present in e-cigarette vapour. The slant put on the finding is irresponsible as it can put smokers off switching to a much safer alternative.
“The bit on exercise is not comparing like with like, vapers are normally ex-smokers and no effects of previous smoking or other differences between people who do and do not smoke, including differences in exercise levels, were controlled for.”
Paul Gallagher – iNews – 2022-11-01.
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