FRIDAY, May 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Some smokers use Electronic cigarettes to try and kick the habit, but new research shows that mixing smoking and vaping is no better for your heart health than just smoking.

Among 24,000 men and women, smoking cigarettes and e-cigarettes did not reduce the risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke or any other cardiovascular disease.

“Our results suggest that combining smoking with e-cigarette use does not reduce cardiovascular events and that discontinuation of both products is necessary to ensure risk mitigation,” said lead researcher Jonathan Berlowitz. , a medical student at Boston University.

“The cardiovascular risk of dual use does not differ from the risk in those who exclusively smoke cigarettes,” he added.

It has been touted that e-cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes and those who only vaped reported fewer cardiovascular problems, but there were too few reported problems to draw a definitive conclusion that e-cigarettes are safer, the researchers noted.

E-cigarettes contain many toxic chemicals, but are a popular way to get nicotine.

“There are different reasons for the dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes,” Berlowitz said.

“Many adults use e-cigarettes to help them cut down on cigarette smoking, which they hope will benefit health,” he said. “Others may use e-cigarettes to consume nicotine in places where cigarettes are banned. risk, whatever the use of the electronic cigarette.

Participants took part in the Smoking and Health Population Assessment Study from 2013 to 2019.

Researchers found over 1,480 cases of cardiovascular disease and over 500 cases of heart attack, heart failure Where stroke.

Compared to people who only smoked cigarettes, people who smoked cigarettes and e-cigarettes had no significant difference in risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, heart failure or stroke, the researchers found. researchers.

People who only used e-cigarettes and those who used both cigarettes and e-cigarettes were younger than those who did not use either product. Berlowitz’s team found that 62% of e-only users and 54% of dual users were under 35, compared to 51% of non-users.

Compared to exclusive cigarette use, exclusive e-cigarette use was linked to a 30-40% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers found. The association was significant only for any cardiovascular outcome, including congenital or myocarditisbut not for heart attack, heart failure or stroke.

The study was published May 6 in the journal Traffic.

“Their findings are pretty fair. They found no evidence that e-cigarette use was protective,” said Dr. David Hill, spokesperson for the American Lung Association and assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Institute. Yale University.

“Using e-cigarettes and continuing to smoke cigarettes is not healthy,” noted Hill, who was not part of the study.

The evidence that vaping helps people quit smoking is weak, he pointed out, and the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved e-cigarettes as a means of quitting smoking.

“What the data really says is that the majority of people who use tobacco products unfortunately don’t quit but continue to use both. It’s a frustrating thing,” Hill said. “The idea that this is a smoking cessation product is more marketing than science.”

The challenge with e-cigarettes is that the long-term effects aren’t known because they haven’t been around for that long, Hill said.

“There is no safe tobacco product, including e-cigarettes,” Hill said. “These are addictive and can cause harm. If you’re looking to quit smoking, there are much better ways to help people quit.”

To learn more about e-cigarettes, see US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: Jonathan Berlowitz, BA, medical student, Boston University; David Hill, MD, volunteer medical spokesperson, American Lung Association, assistant clinical professor, medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; Traffic, May 6, 2022, online