E-cigarettes 'increase risk of heart attack and depression' – as expert says he wouldn't let his family vape

Vaping has found that users are significantly more likely to fall victim, compared with those who don't smoke.

"When the risk of heart attack increases by as much as 55 percent among e-cigarettes users compared to nonsmokers, I wouldn't want any of my patients nor my family members to vape," said lead author, Dr Mohinder Vindhyal, assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine Wichita.

"When we dug deeper, we found that regardless of how frequently someone uses e-cigarettes, daily or just on some days, they are still more likely to have a heart attack or coronary artery disease."

Up until now, we haven't known a lot about how e-cigs might hinder heart health but this new data should be a "real wake-up call", said Dr Vindhyal.

Vaping devices work by heating e-liquid which tends to contain nicotine and other chemicals.

According to Dr Vindhyal, there are now more than 460 brands of e-cigs and over 7,700 flavours – some of which put you at risk from "popcorn lung".

"A real wakeup call"

The new study found that compared with nonsmokers, e-cig users were 56 per cent more likely to have a heart attack and 30 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke.

Coronary artery disease and circulatory problems, including blood clots, were also much higher among those who vape – 10 percent and 44 percent higher, respectively.

And vapers were also twice as likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and other emotional problems.

The study is one of the largest to date on the health ramifications of vaping.

Younger poeple are putting themselves at risk of health problems

It included data from 94,467 people over a three year period.

In their analyses, researchers looked at the rates of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery disease, diabetes and depression/anxiety among those who reported using e-cigarettes (either some days or daily) and nonusers.

Those who reported using e-cigarettes were younger than nonusers.

Researchers compared the data from tobacco smokers and nonsmokers.

Daily vaping increases your risk of heart attack and depression

Traditional tobacco cigarette smokers had strikingly higher odds of having a heart attack, coronary artery disease and stroke compared with nonsmokers – a 165, 94 and 78 percent increase, respectively.

They were also significantly more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, circulatory problems, and depression or anxiety.

And scientists also compared data for nonsmokers and e-cig users, and found that daily e-cigarette users had higher odds of heart attack, coronary artery disease and depression/anxiety, whereas some days users were more likely to have a heart attack and suffer from depression/anxiety, with only a trend toward coronary artery disease.

"Cigarette smoking carries a much higher probability of heart attack and stroke than e-cigarettes, but that doesn't mean that vaping is safe," Dr Vindhyal said.

More research is still needed but the study concluded that there was a clear association between any kind of smoking and negative health outcomes.

The best thing you can do is to quit altogether.



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