No matter how much do you smoke, cigarettes and vapes are bad for your health and there is no ‘safe’ smoking product that you can use. Anything that you inhale is going to damage your lungs as well as your whole body, and even cause death. From smoking traditional cigarettes to modern, e-cigarettes, and vapes, the smoking trends have changed over time. Some people like to try both smoking cigarettes and vaping together which increases their chances for damage. A new study published in the journal ‘Circulation’ by the American Heart Association finds these e-cigarettes equally damaging for the body, like traditional cigarettes.
Smoking is directly linked to heart disease and lung disease. The modern e-cigarettes also called vapes are often presented as a ‘safe alternative’ to cigarettes and they are extremely popular among teenagers. But there is limited scientific data to confirm these benefits of vaping over smoking cigarettes.
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This current study analyzed 7,100 adults from the US who confirmed smoking or vaping or both. the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between smoking and e-cigarettes (vaping) with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation inside the body. These two are considered as key contributors to various cardiovascular diseases i.e., heart failure.
This is the first study that has used adult data to examine the effects of cigarettes and vapes on inflammation as well as oxidative stress in users. It was a much-needed aspect because tobacco exposure to the body increases the chances of death by a cardiovascular event. And understanding how traditional and new tobacco products affect the body will help to determine a preventive strategy.
The data used in this study was taken from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. It was a US-based longitudinal study that included 18 years old and older participants during 2013 and 2014. This study analyzed the blood and urinary samples obtained from these participants.
This current study checked five inflammatory biomarkers and oxidative stress among these participants. First, all of the participants were divided into four groups based on their exposure and usage of traditional cigarettes and vapes during the 30-day period.
For efficiency in testing, the research team repeated the same with individuals with no history of any smoking or vaping during the last 30 days. Nearly 58.9% of the participants reported a non-usage of cigarettes or e-cigarettes. Only 2% of the remaining were using vape and 30% were habitual smokers of the traditional cigarettes. 10% of people confirmed smoking and vaping both at the same time.
The final reports of this study confirmed that participants who were only using vapes have a similar inflammatory and oxidative stress response as people who never used e-cigarettes or cigarettes.
Those who were smoking and vaping both have high levels of all these dangerous biomarkers and are at a high risk of cardiovascular damage than people who neither use cigarette or vape. People who are habitual smokers or those who only use vape have a low level of these biomarkers.
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This current study provides evidence for determining the safety level of e-cigarettes. The biggest message that it gives to the public is that smoking and vaping together have double the risks as compared to smoking or vaping individually.
This information is significant as the world is going through a deadly pandemic that specifically targets the lungs. Based on these results, one can decide to quit smoking or vaping, or both in this new year.
