E-cigarette smokers are more likely to have a stroke at a young age

E-cigarettes

Preliminary results warn: They face a 15% higher risk of stroke compared to traditional smokers... Avoiding all cigarettes and nicotine is the best way to maintain a healthy brain

Tobacco use is a risk factor for stroke and other cardiovascular diseases; Cigarette smoking kills about 480,000 people annually in the United States, according to estimates by the American Heart Association Presidential Advisory.

Over the past years, the global use of electronic cigarettes has increased dramatically, and despite the prevalence of their use, there is very limited knowledge about their safety, risks, and effectiveness in helping people to quit smoking, according to a study - under publication - conducted by a research team from Mount Sinai University School of Medicine. in New York for the American Heart Association.

The researchers were supposed to present the preliminary results of the study within the scientific sessions of the American Heart Association for the year 2021. But the results were not presented or reviewed for reasons related to display techniques, according to the comments obtained by the magazine "For Science" through communication with officials of the "American Heart Association".

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat a liquid (usually, but not always, nicotine), turning it into a vapor that can be inhaled.

Researchers examined National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2015 through 2018 and identified 79,825 adults with a history of stroke who used conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or both.

The researchers report that 7,756 people used e-cigarettes, 48,625 people used conventional cigarettes, and 23,444 people used both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

The preliminary results of the study show that "although stroke was more prevalent among traditional cigarette smokers, e-cigarette smokers were 15% more likely to have a stroke at a younger age, compared to traditional smokers."

"Adults who used e-cigarettes were younger when they first had their stroke, with a median age of 48, compared with a median age of 59 years for people who smoke conventional cigarettes, and 50 years for those who smoke both conventional and e-cigarettes," she says.

The preliminary results also concluded that 36.36% of women who had a stroke used electronic cigarettes, compared to 33.91% who smoked traditional cigarettes.

We worked to include people aged 18 and over 18 in the study, Neil Battle, chair of education in the Department of Public Health and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai University in New York City, and the study's principal investigator told Science. , especially since there is an increasing trend of smoking among young people, so it was very important to include younger adults in the study.

"People need to know that e-cigarettes have not been shown to be safe and should not be considered as an alternative to traditional smoking, especially among people with existing risk factors, such as a history of heart attacks and high blood pressure," Patel adds.

The study notes that "nicotine is one of the chemicals that go into the products of both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, but there are many other chemicals that can directly affect the endothelium of blood vessels, and these substances can cause damage to blood vessels." This leads to atherosclerosis, and can also lead to blood clots.

“It is important for young people to realize that e-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to conventional cigarettes and that the best alternative to cigarettes,” Karen L. Fury, chair of neurology at Brown University’s Warren Albert School of Medicine and volunteer expert with the American Heart Association, says in the press release accompanying the study. A way to keep your brain healthy and prevent stroke is to avoid all cigarettes and nicotine products.

The researchers admit that the study was not without some reservations, most notably that they did not have data on the type or severity of participants' strokes, which requires further research to better assess the long-term effects of e-cigarettes and their role in heart health and stroke.