Assessing the effect vaping has on the heart and blood vessels, by monitoring the heart health of vapers and smokers, vapers, and people who do neither, over a 2-year period.
Aetiology
The estimated number of cigarette smokers worldwide is expected to rise to 1.7 billion by 2025, with 8 million smokers living in the U.K. Smoking is the leading, preventable cause of death worldwide, being responsible for almost 80,000 deaths in the UK per year. Encouraging people to stop smoking is therefore a health priority for the NHS. E-cigarettes (also known as vapes) are a successful cessation tool, with around 3.6 million users in the UK alone. Many, but not all of them, are people who have stopped smoking or are currently smoking.
Despite the large number of users, the long-term effects of vaping on our cardiovascular system, including our heart and blood vessels, remain unknown. The previous work of this research group and others, suggest that the blood vessel health of smokers using vaping as a tool to stop smoking, improves in both the short- and medium-term. However, there are no studies to explore its longer-term effects, and there is no information for users with no smoking history.
This study therefore aims to assess the effects of vaping on the heart and the blood vessels, as well as the cardiovascular disease risk for different types of vapers, over a 2-year period. 200 people will be recruited across Sheffield and Leeds, broadly falling into four groups which encompass different types of vapers. This will include those who are currently vaping and smoking at the same time, those who vape and have never smoked, vapers with a previous smoking history and those who have stopped smoking but do not currently vape. All participants will undertake a series of assessments on five occasions at time intervals spanning 2 years. Non-invasive techniques will be used to assess large vein, heart and lung function and questionnaires will be utilised to measure nicotine and vaping addiction. Finally, blood samples will be taken that will help determine cardiovascular disease risk over time.
The findings of this project aim to fulfil two main aims. Firstly, to inform future national guidance strategy on best management of smokers who are ready to stop smoking, as well as identifying policies on the wider use of e-cigarettes and, secondly to allow vapers to make an informed decision about their longer-term vaping habits.
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