A groundbreaking study has revealed that vaping could be more harmful to our health than smoking cigarettes, showing its potential to cause three serious illnesses.
For years, medical experts have claimed that vaping exposes users to fewer toxins, thus deeming them somewhat less of a health risk.
However, in 2020, a study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stated that vaping had been found to cause similarly negative effects as smoking on lung and cardiovascular function.
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In 2023, experts at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport decided to take matters into their own hands by looking into the long-term effects of puffing on e-cigarettes.
And while results are still to be concluded, a study author and cardiac rehabilitation expert claims that vaping could actually be way worse for us than smoking cigarettes is.
This is a bit of an opinion U-turn for Dr Maxime Boidin, who did initially believe that ‘vaping was more beneficial than smoking’.
"Smokers tend to go outside and smoke, and once a cigarette is finished they have to light up another to keep going,” he told The Mirror.
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“But with vapes, you just keep going and it’s much harder to know how many puffs you’ve had.
"It’s much easier to vape continuously because you can do it in places where smoking might be less acceptable.
“What we have found is the dangers for someone who keeps vaping are no different from smokers.”
The Daily Mail writes that vape vapour is produced by heating a liquid that typically contains propylene glycol, glycerine, flavourings, and other chemicals.
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This concerning cocktail has raised eyebrows, causing experts to believe that people may be suffering increases in heart rate and blood pressure due to inhaling nicotine in vapour.
To uncover what vaping is doing to our bodies in the long term, MMU specialists enlisted the help of volunteers ages 18 to 45.
With a median age of 27, these study participants were given regular stress tests to measure the elasticity of their blood vessels and how quickly blood flowed to their brains.
12 hours before the test, they were asked to just drink water and not smoke cigarettes, vape, or complete any exercise.
A cuff was placed on each participant’s arm to measure how much the artery expands as more blood passes through it, as per Dr Boidin.
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It was said that both smokers and vapers showed a worrying ‘flat reading’ signalling they were suffering from damaged artery walls that couldn’t dilate.
This means that these people were at severe risk of cardiovascular problems in the future, such as heart disease or organ failure.
The Daily Mail reports that smokers and vapers’ blood flow was similarly impaired, thus putting them at risk of developing cognitive dysfunction, including dementia.
“When you put this mixture of metals and chemicals into your body you can't expect nothing to happen,” Dr Boiden claimed.
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“The only benefit of vaping is to help people quit smoking, but if they keep vaping the result is going to be the same.”
Public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) states that around 11 percent of the UK’s population currently vape, with more than half (53 percent) being ex-smokers.
However, experts will be hoping that number will drop when the results of the study are released following its conclusion next month.
The NHS says that while nicotine vaping is not ‘risk-free’, it is considered ‘less harmful than smoking.
This advice refers to 2022 findings when UK experts said that in ‘the short and medium-term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking’.
Ella Scott