Vaping nicotine damages blood vessels, increasing blood pressure and heart rate

Vaping nicotine damages blood vessels, increasing blood pressure and heart rate

*Important NOTE:Statements and conclusions of studies presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the Association. The Association makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Association's scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed but are curated by independent review panels and considered on the basis of their potential to expand the diversity of scientific topics and views discussed at the meeting. Results are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

A current study that will soon be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2022 * evaluated the effects of nicotine-containing products on cardiovascular and autonomic functions.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDs) have not been adequately studied for their acute cardiovascular effects. Ingestion of ENDS by END users (or “vapers”), use of combustible cigarettes by chronic smokers, and lack of product use in non-smoker/non-vaping controls are thought to produce different acute cardiovascular and autonomic functional responses. The team conducted a cross-sectional study called Cardiac and Lung E-cig Smoking (CLUES) that assessed vapers, exclusive smokers, and non-smoker/non-vaper controls.

Learn: Acute effects of nicotine-containing product challenge on cardiovascular and autonomic function in e-cigarette vapers, combustible cigarette smokers, and controls: The CLUES study. Image source: kiszon pascal / Shutterstock

About studying

In the present study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health compared vapers, smokers of traditional combustible cigarettes, and people who reported not using nicotine products.

Between March 2019 and March 2022, researchers conducted the CLUES investigation. It was designed to compare the short-term effects of cigarette smoking and vaping on habitual nicotine users with their peers who did not use nicotine at all. Before and after product use, the team examined systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), brachial artery diameter, heart rate (HR), and HR variability in the time domain. Additionally, age, gender, and race were included as factors in linear mixed models to predict group, time, and group time outcomes. Group contrasts were then determined using post hoc t tests using Bonferroni corrected p values.

Researchers estimated blood pressure, heart rate, brachial artery diameter in the arm and heart rate variability before and up to 15 minutes after participants vaped or smoked. The before-and-after measurements were then compared to those obtained 10 to 15 minutes apart in non-smoking and non-vaping participants.

Results

The study involved 164 people with an average age of 27.4 years, with 39% women and 86% whites reporting having used electronic cigarettes for an average of 4.1 years. Of these, 80% used vaping devices. Almost 117 people said they had smoked exclusively traditional, combustible cigarettes for an average of 23 years. On the other hand, 114 adults reported never vaping or smoking and tested negative for nicotine use.

The researchers discovered that those who vaped and smoked had the following characteristics compared to non-users: (1) their heart beat faster due to a greater increase in heart rate, (2) people who smoked or vaped had an increase in heart rate of about four beats per minute (bpm), while those who reported not using nicotine had no changes in heart rate and (3) experienced more significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

In contrast to those who never used nicotine products, those who vaped or smoked experienced an increase in blood pressure from 122/72 mm Hg to 127/77 mm Hg after smoking or vaping. After smoking or vaping, users of these nicotine-containing products also showed worse measurements of heart rate variability and increased narrowing of the brachial artery, indicating a Activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Overall, study results showed that smokers and vapers experienced acute increases in heart rate and blood pressure, vasoconstriction, and decreases in time-domain HR variability following ENDS use.

*Important NOTE:Statements and conclusions of studies presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the Association. The Association makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Association's scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed but are curated by independent review panels and considered on the basis of their potential to expand the diversity of scientific topics and views discussed at the meeting. Results are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Reference:

• Vorläufiger wissenschaftlicher Bericht.
  Akute Auswirkungen von Herausforderungen durch nikotinhaltige Produkte auf die kardiovaskuläre und autonome Funktion bei Dampfern von elektronischen Zigaretten, Rauchern von brennbaren Zigaretten und Kontrollpersonen: Die CLUES-Studie, Matthew C. Tattersall, Christina M. Hughey, Thomas M. Piasecki, Claudia E. Korcarz, Kristin Hansen, Michael C Fiore, Timothy B. Baker, James H. Stein, University of Wisconsin SMPH, Madison, WI, https://newsroom.heart.org/news/people-who-vape-had-worrisome-changes-in-cardiovascular-function-even-as-young-adults?preview=71d7

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