Smoking: combining cigarettes and vapers increases cardiovascular risks

It’s no secret that smoking is bad for your health. But the current data on smoking, in particular concerning electronic cigarettes and vapers, often perceived as harmless, sometimes remain unclear on the risks involved.

Two studies funded by the US authorities

Two new American studies, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH – American Institutes of Health) could, however, provide a little more detail on what smokers risk.

• For one, long-term use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, can significantly impair the function of the body’s blood vessels, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• On the other hand, using both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes can carry an even greater risk than using either product alone. The findings of these studies are published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

E-cigarettes and vapes affect blood vessels in several ways

In a first study, the cardiology department at the University of California, San Francisco, wanted to know if the use of e-cigarettes could present a risk of vascular disease similar to that of chronic smokers. The team therefore took blood samples from a group of 120 volunteers that included long-term e-cigarette users, long-term cigarette smokers and non-users.

They then exposed each of the blood samples to lab-grown human blood vessel (endothelial) cells and measured the release of nitric oxide, a chemical marker used to assess the proper functioning of endothelial cells. They also tested cell permeability, the ability of molecules to cross a layer of cells. Namely that too much permeability makes the vessels fragile and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• The researchers found that the blood of e-cigarette users and smokers caused a significantly greater decrease in nitric oxide production by blood vessel cells than the blood of non-users;
• They also found that the blood of e-cigarette users also caused greater permeability in blood vessel cells than the blood of smokers and non-tobacco users;
• The blood of e-cigarette users also caused greater release of hydrogen peroxide from blood vessel cells than the blood of non-users.

Each of these three factors may contribute to impaired blood vessel function in e-cigarette users, the researchers said.

The team also found that e-cigarettes had different harmful cardiovascular effects than tobacco smoke, with each type of use having elevated levels of certain cardiovascular risk markers.

Airway irritation damages blood vessels

In the second study conducted on rats, these same researchers tried to find out if specific components of tobacco smoke or e-cigarette vapor were responsible for damage to blood vessels. The animals were therefore exposed to nicotine, menthol, acrolein and acetaldehyde gases (two products present in both tobacco smoke and electronic cigarette vapours) and inert carbon nanoparticles representing smoke and vapour. of electronic cigarette.

Using special measurements of arterial flow, the researchers demonstrated that damage to blood vessels does not appear to be caused by a specific component of cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapor. On the other hand, it is the irritation of the respiratory tract, itself, which would trigger biological signals in the vagus nerve, resulting in lesions of the blood vessels.

The electronic cigarette is not an excuse

The two studies, therefore, could avoid getting lost in risky estimates of the harms of this or that use. They highlight how difficult it is to identify a single ingredient responsible for damage to blood vessels. They are also recent proof that, contrary to what some still think, the use of electronic cigarettes could have harmful effects on cardiovascular health.