Daily e-cigarette users ‘TWICE as likely to suffer a heart attack’, experts warn
Vapers who smoked fags before they switched to e-cigarettes are three times more likely to suffer a heart attack, research found
DAILY vapers are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack, experts have warned.
They say e-cigarettes should not be recommended to smokers wanting to quit, despite NHS guidance.
People puffing on the devices every day were 1.8 times as likely to have a heart attack, compared to those who have never vaped.
However, scientists in the US warned most people use both e-cigarettes and regular fags together, according to
This group are at much greater risk of heart attack, they warned.
The authors said: "Daily e-cigarette use is associated with increased odds of myocardial infarction (heart attack) independent of and in addiction to the risks associated with smoking and other risk factors.
"Dual use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes - the most common use pattern among e-cigarette users - is more dangerous than using either product alone.
"From these findings, recreational use of e-cigarettes or use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation should not be recommended."
It comes as Public Health England reviewed the evidence earlier this year and concluded e-cigarettes could help 20,000 smokers a year quit their deadly habit.
The report suggested the evidence for providing the devices on the NHS was "compelling".
The researchers looked at the health records of around 70,000 people between 2014 and 2016.
Experts from George Washington University in Washington, US, found that patients who said they used e-cigarettes every day were 1.8 times as likely to have a heart attack compared to those who had never used them.
The research also shows vapers who smoked traditional cigarettes before switching to e-cigarettes are three times as likely to suffer a heart attack as someone who has never smoked.
But the risk is highest for people who combine smoking tobacco and vaping.
They are more than four and a half times more likely to have a heart attack as someone who has never smoked or vaped.
MORE ON E-CIGARETTES
People who smoke every day but do not vape are 2.72 times more at risk of having a heart attack while ex-smokers who do not vape are 1.7 times more at risk.
"Most adults who use e-cigarettes continue to smoke cigarettes,” said study author Dr Stanton Glantz, from the University of California, San Francisco, who also worked on the research.
"While people may think they are reducing their health risks, we found that the heart attack risk of e-cigarettes adds to the risk of smoking cigarettes.
"Using both products at the same time is worse than using either one separately.
""The only way to substantially reduce the risk of a heart attack is to stop using tobacco."
The research was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
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