WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - People aged 18 years and over, who have used e-cigarettes at any point in their life, are 19 percent more likely to experience heart failure compared to those who haven't used them, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology.
'More and more studies are linking e-cigarettes to harmful effects and finding that it might not be as safe as previously thought,' Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, a physician and lead researcher at MedStar Health in Baltimore, said. 'The difference we saw was substantial.'
The study, led by Bene-Alhasan, analyzed health data of 175,667 adults involved in the U.S. National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program. Out of the total, around 28,660 people reported of using e-cigarettes, and 3,242 experienced heart failure in the nearly four years of median follow-up data collected, while the people who already had one heart failure were excluded from the study.
The researchers also didn't consider how often the participants used e-cigarettes, or whether their vapes contained nicotine or flavorings.
The study revealed that even the 'nicotine-free' vapes were harmful for a person's lung tissue and blood vessels.
Also, it showed that the participants who smoked cigarettes saw their risk of heart failure jump to 59 percent compared to people who vaped but didn't smoke.
Bene-Alhasan concluded, 'With more research, we will get to uncover a lot more about the potential health consequences and improve the information out to the public.'
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