E-cigarettes raise concern for potential health risk

E-cigarettes are not safe as people think.

In a recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal BMC Public Health, researchers investigated the association between the use of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) and the risk of myocardial infarction (MI aka heart attack) as well as stroke.

For decades, cigarette smoking has been recognized as a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke.

In response, the tobacco industry introduced electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly referred to as e-cigarettes or “vapes,” and promoted them as harm-reduction tools to aid smoking cessation.

The present study addressed this gap using a systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) conducted in accordance with the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Conventional cigarette smoking was treated as a key confounder and subgroup variable.

Analysis showed that people who used e-cigarettes had 53% higher chances of MI compared with non-users.

Notably, among former cigarette smokers who currently use e-cigarettes, the odds of a heart attack were more than doubled.

These findings raise concerns about the cardiovascular safety of e-cigarettes and indicate that they should not be assumed to be risk-free alternatives, especially for cigarettes.

This systematic review suggested that e-cigarette use is associated with increased odds of myocardial infarction, particularly among individuals with a history of cigarette smoking.

Although exclusive vaping among never-smokers was not associated with statistically significant cardiovascular risk in this analysis, the elevated risk observed in former smokers raises concerns about the use of e-cigarettes as a harm-reduction tool.