E-Cigarette Use Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Failure

People who use e-cigarettes are significantly more likely to develop heart failure than nonusers, according to one of the largest prospective studies to date in this area. The findings are being presented at the American College of Cardiology 73rd Annual Scientific Session & Expo.

Electronic nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, vape and hookah pens, e-cigars, and personal vaporizers and mods, deliver nicotine in an aerosol form without combustion. Although portrayed as a safer alternative to smoking, a growing body of research demonstrates the health risks these products pose.

“More and more studies are linking e-cigarettes to harmful effects and finding that they might not be as safe as previously thought,” said Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, MD, a resident physician at MedStar Health in Baltimore and the study’s lead author. “The difference we saw was substantial. It’s worth considering the consequences to your health, especially with regard to heart health.”

To conduct this analysis, researchers used data from surveys and electronic health records to analyze the link between e-cigarette use and heart failure in 175,667 study participants (average age, 52 years; 60.5% female). In this population. 3242 participants developed heart failure within a median follow-up of 45 months.

According to the results, people who used e-cigarettes at any point were 19% more likely to develop heart failure compared with those who had never used e-cigarettes.

Researchers accounted for a variety of demographic and socioeconomic factors, including other heart disease risk factors and participants’ past and current use of other substances, such as alcohol and tobacco products. Specifically, the increased risk associated with e-cigarette use was statistically significant for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. However, the investigators noted that the link was not significant for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

“I think this research is long overdue, especially considering how much e-cigarettes have gained traction,” Dr. Bene-Alhasan said. “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. With more research, we will get to uncover a lot more about the potential health consequences and improve the information out to the public.”