Non-smokers should never take up vaping...but there are heart benefits for tobacco users

Non-smokers should never take up vaping, despite their being heart benefits for those who switch from tobacco to e-cigarettes, scientists have warned, following the most comprehensive study to date.

A trial which looked at the impact of moving from smoking to vaping found that within a month blood flow through a major artery had significantly improved and was around halfway back to the function of a non-smoker.

Although researchers could not say whether the effect would continue, if it did, smokers could see their risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes fall by more than 13 per cent.

Yet despite the benefit, experts from the University of Dundee said vaping was harmful, and experts warned that calculations made by Public Health England (PHE) suggesting it is 95 per cent safer than smoking were too simplistic.

Jacob George, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Dundee, who led the trial, said: “It is crucial to emphasis that e-cigarettes are not safe, just less harmful than tobacco cigarettes when it comes to vascular health.

“They should not be seen as harmless devices for non-smokers and young people to try. However for chronic tobacco smokers there were significant improvements in vascular function within a month of switching from tobacco to an e-cigarette.”

Each year more than 20,000 people die from heart and circulatory disease caused by smoking, and public health experts believe that switching to vaping could save thousands of lives

More than one in 20 adults now vape in Britain but concerns have been growing following nearly 2,000 cases of deaths and lung problems associated with e-cigarettes.

On Thursday it was reported that an 18-year-old Belgian teenager had died after developing pneumonia, which doctors attributed to vaping. The death follows the case of a British 16-year-old Ewan Fisher who needed life-support and developing a vaping-linked respiratory disease.

The US Center for Disease Control has so far confirmed 37 deaths in the US and 1,888 cases of lung injury associated with e-cigarettes or vaping liquids. Some 39 countries have now outlawed the products and Donald Trump, the US President, is considering banning flavoured e-cigarettes.

PHE continues to maintain that e-cigarettes are at least 95 per cent safer than cigarettes, but according to the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) vaping has been linked to 200 health problems in the UK. British healthcare officials have also filed 74 ‘yellow card’ reports of conditions they believe were caused by e-cigarettes.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director for The British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said the 95 per cent statistic was based on ‘a very simple calculation.’

“That estimate was produced by a group of experts who were looking at what comes out of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes and doing a very simple calculation,” he said. “I think to a degree that was a fairly simple argument, we don’t know what’s coming out of e-cigarettes and there is clearly a need for more longer-term studies.

“E-cigarettes should never be taken up by people who don’t already smoke, but could br a useful tool to help people to stop smoking completely.

“Just because e-cigarettes may be less harmful than tobacco doesn’t mean they are completely safe.”

The researchers also said that smokers should not stay on e-cigarettes long-term and should think about giving them up as quickly as possible after they have managed to quit.

Earlier this week, German researchers warned that vaping should be banned for young people after showing that it can make arteries more stiff.

But commenting on the study Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Senior researcher in health behaviours at Oxford University, said the new results should give reassurance to smokers who are using e-cigarettes to quit.

“Vaping is not risk free, and non-smokers should not start,” he said. “However people who smoke should consider switching.”

Joe Fitzpatrick, Public Health Minister for Scotland, added: “While research shows that switching to e-cigarettes can lead to vascular health benefits for chronic tobacco smokers, access to e-cigarettes needs to be controlled carefully. They are simply not products for children and non-smokers.”

The new research was published the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.