Vapers who also smoke 'are TWICE as likely to suffer a stroke'

Vapers who also smoke are twice as likely to suffer a stroke than adults who just stick to cigarettes, a study has warned.

Scientists analysed data on cigarette and e-cigarette use from 160,000 people in the US who were aged between 18 and 44.

Volunteers who both smoked cigarettes and vaped were much more likely to have a stroke, according to the research.

But the same results also revealed adults who only used e-cigarettes and had never smoked did not have an increased risk.

The findings suggest vaping is not a safe way of giving up tobacco, and could even harm the blood vessels, brain and heart.

Smoking cigarettes alone is already known to be a key risk factor for stroke because the killer habit thickens the blood.

The research suggests that vaping may not be a safe way to stop smoking and when combined with cigarettes has an even worse effect on hearts, brains and blood vessels

The research was led by George Mason University in Virginia and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Lead investigator Tarang Parekh, department of health administration and policy, at George Mason University in America, said: ‘It’s long been known that smoking cigarettes is among the most significant risk factors for stroke.

‘Our study shows that young smokers who also use e-cigarettes put themselves at an even greater risk.

HOW COULD VAPING BE HARMFUL?

E-cigarettes have the potential to benefit some people, by helping them quit smoking. But scientists still have a lot to learn about whether e-cigarettes are truly effective for quitting smoking and what the long-term risks are.

Nicotine is already known to be highly addictive and harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s.

E-cigarettes produce an aerosol by heating a liquid that usually contains nicotine. Aerosol is inhaled into the lungs and can contain potentially harmful substances, including heavy metals like lead, volatile organic compounds, and cancer-causing agents.

US health officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are investigating an outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI).

The mystery illness has swept across the states. Officials have identified Vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern. THC is present in most of the fluid samples collected from the lungs of ill people, and most patients report a history of using THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products.

‘Popcorn lung’ is the nickname for bronchiolitis obliterans, a condition which damages the smallest airways in the lungs and has been linked to people with vaping-related breathing problems. However, there’s no good evidence that e-cigarettes could cause the lung condition, according to Cancer Research UK.

The flavourings in electronic cigarettes may damage blood vessels in the same way as heart disease, according to research published in June 2018.

The chemicals used to give the vapour flavours, such as cinnamon, strawberry and banana, can cause inflammation in cells in the arteries, veins and heart.

They cause the body to react in a way that mimics the early signs of heart disease, heart attacks or strokes, the study by Boston University found.

Other recent studies have also suggested smoking e-cigarettes could cause DNA mutations which lead to cancer, and enable pneumonia-causing bacteria to stick to the lungs easier.

Researchers at New York University subjected human bladder and lung cells to e-cigarette vapor, which is marketed as being healthier than tobacco.

They found the cells mutated and became cancerous much faster than expected and mice exposed to the vapour also suffered significant DNA damage.

In another study, scientists at Queen Mary University, London, found vaping makes users more likely to catch pneumonia – just like smoking tobacco or breathing in traffic fumes.

The vapour from e-cigarettes helps bacteria which cause the condition to stick to the cells that line the airways, they said.

The effect occurs with traditional cigarette smoke and those who are exposed to air pollution high in particulates from vehicle exhausts.

‘This is an important message for young smokers who perceive e-cigarettes as less harmful and consider them a safer alternative.

‘We have begun understanding the health impact of e-cigarettes and concomitant cigarette smoking, and it’s not good.’

Academics used data from the 2016-2017 Behaviour Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a national annual, cross-sectional health survey conducted jointly by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and all US states and territories.

They analysed responses on cigarette and e-cigarette use from 161,529 participants aged 18 to 44 years old.

The study calculated the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for cerebrovascular events among the smokers.

The researchers accounted for frequency of use, demographic factors, hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol levels, body mass index, physical activity, and alcohol use when calculating the odds of stoke.

It suggests the AOR for stroke among those with current sole tobacco use was 1.59, and current vapers who were former cigarette users had an AOR of 2.54.

The odds were almost three times higher those who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes versus non-smokers.

Compared with current tobacco smokers, vapers had lower odds of stroke (0.43), the research suggests.

The study did not find that switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes had any clear benefit because it didn’t adjust the odds of suffering a stroke.

Dr Lion Shahab of University College London, cautioned that it was not clear whether dual use of e-cigarettes, or switching to e-cigarettes from cigarettes, was a result of stroke or preceded it.

He added that the findings indicate an ‘additive harmful effect of e-cigarettes on smokers’ blood vessels, hearts and brains’.

Dr Shahab, senior lecturer in epidemiology and public health at UCL, said: ‘While this paper highlights the need to continue studying the potential health effects of e-cigarette use, the results should be interpreted with caution as the observed associations may be simply due to unmeasured confounding and reverse causality.

‘It is entirely possible that the group of current or former smokers took up e-cigarettes precisely because they had a health scare, which would result in the observed association.’

Smoking increases the risk of stroke because the chemicals thicken the blood, increasing the risk of blood clots and narrowing the arteries, as well as restricting oxygen in the blood.

It is unclear how e-cigarettes, which still contain some chemicals, impact the heart and circulation, or other aspects of health. But they are not considered completely harm-free.

Previous research in mice, by University of Texas El Paso, found short-term exposure to the vaping devices appeared to increase the risk of clot formation, which can lead to a stroke or heart attack.

And research on blood cells at Stanford University found the flavourings in e-cigarettes caused DNA damage, cell death and inflammation.

Experts believe this damage to the cells which line blood vessels causes them to harden and form clots, suggesting heavy use of vaping could increase someone’s danger of a heart attack or stroke.

The latest study comes as health officials in the US investigate a spate of vaping related illnesses across the states.

Vaping-related lung injuries have killed 55 Americans and sent more than 2,500 people to the hospital, figures show.

Officials have identified Vitamin E acetate and THC as a cause of concern. These are not found in regulated products in the UK.

Public Health England say vaping is 95 per cent safer than smoking and e-cigarettes are twice as effective at helping smokers to quit compared with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

Some 3.6million people in the UK are vaping, research by the charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) found.

At the same time, figures show an accelerated drop in smoking rates, currently at a record low of 14.9 per cent in England.

What is an e-cigarette and how is it different to smoking tobacco?

An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) is a device that allows users to inhale nicotine by heating a vapour from a solution that contain nicotine, propylene and flavourings.

As there is no burning involved, there is no smoke like a traditional cigarette.

But while they have been branded as carrying a lower risk than cigarettes, an increasing swell of studies is showing health dangers.

E-cigarettes do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, but the vapor does contain some harmful chemicals.

Nicotine is the highly addictive chemical which makes it difficult for smokers to quit.

Nearly three million people in Britain use e-cigarettes, and more than nine million Americans.

TYPES:

1. Standard e-cigarette

Battery-powered device containing nicotine e-liquid.

It vaporizes flavored nicotine liquid.

2. Juul

Very similar to normal e-cigarettes but with sleeker design and a higher concentration of nicotine.

Thanks to its ‘nicotine salts’, manufacturers claim one pod delivers the amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.

It is composed of an e-cigarette (battery and temperature control), and a pod of e-liquid which is inserted at the end.

The liquid contains nicotine, chemicals and flavorings.

Like other vaping devices, it vaporizes the e-liquid.

3. IQOS by Philip Morris

Pen-shaped, charged like an iPod.

Vaporizes tobacco.

It is known as a ‘heat not burn’ smokeless device, heating tobacco but not burning it (at 350C compared to 600C as normal cigarettes do).

The company claims this method lowers users’ exposure to carcinogen from burning tobacco.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk

Vapers who also smoke ‘are TWICE as likely to suffer a stroke’

HOW COULD VAPING BE HARMFUL?

What is an e-cigarette and how is it different to smoking tobacco?