Vaping can leave you just as breathless and unfit as smoking does – especially if you start young, new study finds
Vaping has long been hailed as a healthier alternative to smoking, and has even had endorsements from the NHS.
But a new study suggests that regularly using e-cigarettes could be just as harmful to fitness levels as cigarettes.
Research led by Manchester Metropolitan University found that healthy young adults who vaped suffered breathlessness during exercise just as much as smokers did.
Vapers also had similarly low levels of overall fitness and had virtually the same degree of damage to their blood vessels.
The authors say their findings indicate that the ‘normalisation’ of vaping – around 5.5 million Britons take part in the habit – could be ‘introducing serious health risks’ across the nation.
The data follows the striking results of a study published last month that found swapping traditional cigarettes for vapes may not significantly reduce the odds of lung cancer.
The South Korean scientists noted that, compared with ex-smokers who gave up smoking entirely, those who swapped to vaping were significantly more likely to develop, and die from, the disease.
Meanwhile, the number of people who vape in Britain overtook the number of cigarette smokers for the first time ever last year.
Although both cigarettes and vapes deliver nicotine, they do so in different ways.
Cigarettes burn tobacco, producing thousands of cancer-causing chemicals including tar and carbon monoxide.
Anew study suggests that for young adults, regularly using vapes could be just as harmful for the body as smoking tobacco
Vapes, meanwhile, use a battery-powered device to heat a nicotine-containing liquid into an aerosol that is inhaled. They are also believed to contain fewer chemicals.
NHS guidance says vaping is ‘less harmful than smoking’ but adds that it is ‘not completely harmless and we don’t know yet what the long-term effects may be’.
The new study investigated whether vaping or smoking had caused changes to the heart and lungs of 75 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 30.
All participants had no history of heart or lung disease and all had normal lung function as measured on tests completed prior to the study.
Participants were divided into three equal groups: 25 vapers, 25 cigarette smokers and 25 people who had never smoked or vaped.
The vapers and smokers then each used their chosen nicotine product for at least 18 months.
All three groups had similar lifestyles, including comparable levels of physical activity and alcohol intake.
At the end of the time period, participants completed a cycling fitness test on an exercise bike that became harder every two minutes until they reached their limit.
Researchers monitored their breathing, heart function, oxygen use, blood lactate – a chemical that builds up when muscles start running short of oxygen during exercise – and levels of breathlessness throughout.
Compared with people who had never smoked or vaped, the young vapers and smokers performed almost identically in nearly every test.
Vapers scored 42 per cent lower than non-smokers on a measure of blood vessel function, while smokers scored 44 per cent lower. This indicates that blood flow around the body was compromised during exercise.
Both groups recorded fitness levels around 15 per cent lower than non smokers and vapers, based on the amount of oxygen their body used while cycling.
They also tired sooner than those who had never used nicotine products.
Despite being otherwise healthy, they became breathless more quickly during exercise, too.
Dr Azmy Faisal, the lead author of the study and researcher in cardiorespiratory at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: ‘Our research indicates that vaping can lead to harmful changes to the blood vessels, lung efficiency during exercise and approximately a 15 per cent reduction in fitness compared to those who have never smoked or vaped.’
Concerns over the rising popularity of e-cigarette use prompted a nationwide ban on disposable vapes last June.
Earlier this year, the government also introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Act which prohibits vaping for under 18 year-olds.
Almost one in five children aged between 11 and 17 in Britain has tried vaping, according to polling conducted for the charity Action on Smoking and Health.
The researchers now hope to carry out MRI scans to investigate exactly how vaping affects the heart, lungs and muscles, and how those changes influence fitness.
