E-cigarette users at higher risk of heart attack

A new study has found that smoking an e-cigarette on a regular basis could double the risk of a heart attack.

According to a new analysis of a survey of nearly 70,000 people, led by researchers at UC San Francisco, the dual use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes appears to be more dangerous than using either product alone.

The study also found that the risks compound, so that daily use of both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes raises the heart attack risk five-fold in comparison to the people who don’t use either product.

Senior author Stanton Glantz said, “Most adults who use e-cigarettes continue to smoke cigarettes. 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.”

However, the researchers also reported some good news if smokers quit. “The risk of heart attack starts to drop immediately after you stop smoking. Our results suggest the same is true when they stop using e-cigarettes,” said Glantz.

Electronic cigarettes typically deliver an aerosol of nicotine and other flavours by heating a liquid and are promoted as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes, which generate the nicotine aerosol by burning tobacco.

Article Source : BS

E-cigarettes, tobacco linked to higher risk of oral cancer

Turns out, Tobacco use remains a leading cause of oral cancer but the tobacco landscape is evolving with increasing use of non-cigarette tobacco products and dual-use of multiple product types.

Benjamin Chaffee and co-author Neal Benowitz, University of California, evaluated exposure to known carcinogens (a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue) according to recent use of different tobacco product types, alone or in combination.

Participants were categorized according to use of combustible, which includes cigarettes, cigars, water pipe, pipes, blunts (marijuana-containing cigars), smokeless, which includes moist snuff, chewing tobacco and snus, e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement products.

For each product, the recent use was defined as within the prior three-days and non-use defined as none within 30-days.

All tobacco use categories demonstrated elevated nicotine and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) concentrations relative to non-users. TSNA exposures were highest among smokeless tobacco users, whether used or together with other product types.

Most e-cigarette users concurrently used combustible tobacco resulting in TSNA exposure similar to exclusive cigarette smokers.

The analysis shows that the vast majority of non-cigarette tobacco users are exposed to carcinogen levels comparable to or exceeding exposure among exclusive cigarette smokers, levels that are likely to place users at substantial risk….READ SOURCE