Swapping cigarettes for e-cigarettes has been touted as a way to quit smoking, but a new study from the University of Pennsylvania indicates the harmful effects of vaping may be more serious than previously known.
"E-cigarettes have long been marketed as a safer alternative to regular tobacco smoking," the study's lead author, Dr. Marianne Nabbout, said in a release. "Some believe that e-cigarettes don't contain any of the harmful products, such as free radicals, found in regular tobacco cigarettes, because no combustion is involved."
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The ongoing study has found that vaping brings immediate adverse effects: it has a "significant decrease" on the speed of blood flow in the femoral artery, which runs runs along the thigh and supplies oxygenated blood to the lower half of the body. Vaping also may diminish the amount of oxygen the lungs take in.
The ongoing research so far has included 31 smokers and vapers, ages 21 to 49. They each have undergone MRIs before and after each of the following events: smoking cigarettes, vaping e-cigarette aerosol with nicotine and vaping e-cigarette aerosol without nicotine. The researchers used a cuff on the participants' thighs to measure oxygen saturation in the blood and the speed of blow flow in the femoral artery.
There was a significant decrease in blood flow in the femoral artery, the study found. Vascular function decreased the most after people inhaled e-cigarettes containing nicotine. E-cigarettes without nicotine had the second largest impact on vascular function, the study found.
Vapers also had less oxygen saturation in their blood, regardless of whether there was nicotine in the vape. This suggests there is an immediate decrease in the uptake of oxygen after vaping, according to the study.
"If the acute consumption of an e-cigarette can have an effect that is immediately manifested at the level of the vessels, it is conceivable that the chronic use can cause vascular disease," said Nabbout, who is a radiology resident at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
The findings will be presented Dec. 2 at at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Previous recent studies have found vaping increases the risk of heart failure by nearly 20%, and may have an adverse impact on the brains of college students.
Research also suggests e-cigarette use has dropped significantly among high school students since 2019, but many young adults who began vaping as teens can't shake the habit.