Topline
Vapes containing nicotine may increase the risk of heart failure, according to a new study, adding on to previous research that found vaping may increase the risk of heart disease, worsen blood pressure and heart rate, and cause several lung-related health issues.
woman smokes an electronic cigarette in a public place.
Key Facts
Participants who used e-cigarettes (or vapes) containing nicotine at any point in their lives had a 19% higher chance of developing heart failure compared to those who never used vapes, according to a new study published Tuesday by the American College of Cardiology.
The researchers found the increased risk associated with vaping was more prominent in a type of heart failure called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which causes the heart muscle to become stiff and not properly fill with blood between each beat (the research did not find a similar connection to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, another common form of heart failure).
The researchers tracked 175,667 participants—over 60% female with an average age of 52—over the course of 45 months using health records from the National Institutes of Health.
Of those participants, 3,242 developed heart failure within the 45-month period, and the study found no evidence to suggest other factors—including age, sex or whether they smoked cigarettes—impacted the study.
Crucia Quote
“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, the study’s lead author and a resident physician at MedStar Health in Baltimore, said in a statement. “We don’t want to wait too long to find out eventually that it might be harmful, and by that time a lot of harm might already have been done.”
Big Number
6.7 million. That’s how many Americans over the age of 20 had heart failure in 2020, according to a 2023 Journal of Cardiac Failure study. That number is expected to shoot up to 8.5 million by 2030.
Key Background
Because vapes are still fairly new, their long-term effects on the heart haven’t been widely studied, though some research has been done. A 2019 study looked at NIH health data from 2016 and 2017, and couldn’t establish a connection between vaping and heart disease, though it found evidence smoking traditional cigarettes increased the risk of heart disease. Vaping was also not associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease, though dual use of vapes and cigarettes was, a separate 2019 study found. However, researchers in 2022 discovered long-term use of vapes can significantly impair the function of the body’s blood vessels, thus potentially increasing the risk for heart disease. People who vape have negative changes in heart pressure, heartbeat and blood vessel constriction, and also perform worse in exercise tests compared to people who don’t vape, according to 2022 research from the AHA. Vaping is believed to be a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes. Participants in a 2019 study who smoked cigarettes were switched over to vapes, and most saw improvements in blood pressure and blood vessel stiffness after a month. Although vapes’ aerosols have fewer chemicals than cigarettes, these chemicals—which can include nicotine and heavy metals—are still harmful and may be carcinogenic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tangent
Vaping’s effects on the lungs is more widely studied and known. Vapes produce several dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde, acrolein and acetaldehyde, which can cause lung disease, according to the American Lung Association. Many vapes are flavored using the chemical diacetyl, and research has found it can cause popcorn lung disease. Popcorn lung causes damage to the air sacs in the lungs, resulting in coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and respiratory failure over time. Over 2,800 vape users were admitted to hospitals with a condition called e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) through February 2020, and 68 died, according to data from the CDC. EVALI can cause shortness of breath, coughing, fever, chills, headaches, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
