Dr. Konstantin Farsalinos of the Onassis Cardiac Center in Athens and colleagues have published another in their ongoing studies of the physiological effects of vaping (using e-cigarettes), and comparing the effects of using e-cigarettes with those of regular cigarettes. The newly-published study appeared this week in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders.
Entitled Acute effects of using an electronic nicotine-delivery device (electronic cigarette) on myocardial function: comparison with the effects of regular cigarettes, the authors evaluated 36 healthy heavy smokers via echocardiograms (which measure numerous heart parameters, including volumes, valvular function, and degree of contraction) before and after smoking one cigarette, then compared their cardiac responses with 40 e-cigarette users after vaping for 7 minutes. The two groups were very similar in measured baseline biographical and biological criteria.
The results showed that the vaping group sustained no detectable changes in echocardiographically-measured functions, while the smokers had measurable declines in several parameters. These results reflected similar studies presented at a European cardiology meeting last year, which we also discussed at that time.
Little by little, the actual evidence about e-cigarettes and e-vapor products are trickling in, soon I am certain to become a cascade that will no longer be able to be ignored or manipulated by those who oppose harm reduction. This is a small step indeed, but the data about who is and who is not using e-cigs contrasts starkly with the agenda-driven hype spewed by the CDC et al. There is no science behind any of the sky-is-falling-or-it-maybe-will rhetoric whipping up frenzy among politicians and power-hungry regulators. Within a year or so, absent of course suppression by the FDA and other agencies, the facts showing the miraculous flight from deadly cigarettes to low-risk e-cigs will become manifest.
On a related note, with an abundance of kindness and empathy, the FDA has announced that the over-30,000 comments already submitted to them on their horrendous deeming regulations will be allowed extra time to be pored over by the under-staffed Center for Tobacco Products. Hopefully, the FDA will utilize the time to revise their destructive plan.
