By Hannah Murphy, Health Imaging
November 25, 2024- E-cigarettes, or vapes, are largely considered a safer alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes, but new MRI data suggest they still pose significant risk to users’ health.
The research, which is set to be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, details how vaping inflicts widespread vascular damage after inhalation. Experts uncovered evidence that suggests e-cigarette inhalation may acutely decrease vascular function even more than traditional cigarettes—findings that contradict the notion that vaping is healthier.
“E-cigarettes have long been marketed as a safer alternative to regular tobacco smoking,” study lead author Marianne Nabbout, MD, a radiology resident at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, said in a release on the findings. “Some believe that e-cigarettes don’t contain any of the harmful products, such as free radicals, found in regular tobacco cigarettes, because no combustion is involved.”
To compare the effects of different types of smoking, researchers deployed specialized phase-contrast MRI scans. A group of participants underwent three different imaging sessions, where they were scanned before and after smoking a tobacco cigarette or vaping an e-cigarette with nicotine and without nicotine.
The team analyzed blood flow by using a restrictive femoral cuff that was tightened during smoking sessions. Measurements of femoral artery flow velocity and venous oxygen saturation were taken after the cuff was deflated prior to participants’ scans. Through this, they were able to see exactly how each type of cigarette affected vascular function immediately after smoking.
Both types of cigarettes triggered a decrease in resting blood flow velocity in the superficial femoral artery, but it was most significant after the inhalation of e-cigarettes with nicotine, followed by e-cigarettes without nicotine. Vaping also caused a larger reduction in venous oxygen saturation compared to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
The group suggested that their findings could allude to more serious, long-term complications related to vaping.
“If the acute consumption of an e-cigarette can have an effect that is immediately manifested at the level of the vessels, it is conceivable that the chronic use can cause vascular disease.” Nabbout said. “Ultimately, we are relying on science to help guide the regulation of such products in favor of public health. Refraining from smoking and vaping is always recommended.”
