Scientists have known for decades that smoking can worsen the symptoms of high blood pressure, but is vaping really a viable alternative? According to the research team of Professors Farsalinos and Polosa, e-cigarettes showed an almost immediate reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Two leaders of the medical community are already familiar with the vaping community. Professor Konstantinos Farsalinos is one of the world’s leading cardiologists and a scientist at the Onassis Cardiovascular Surgery Center in Athens, Greece. And Professor Richard Polosa of the University of Catania, Italy, is the author of numerous studies on tobacco-related diseases and nicotine addiction. When these two experts team up for a vaping study , the results are sure to be shocking.
A Brief Look at Farsalins and Polosa's Vape Research
The 2016 study, titled “Effects of smoking reduction and cessation on blood pressure and heart rate in smokers using e-cigarettes,” was published online in the journal Internal and Emergency Medicine and included participants in the 2013 ECLAT study, which focused on the success rate of vaping as a smoking cessation tool.
The Farsalinos and Polosa study lasted 52 weeks and involved 211 participants.
Study participants were divided into three groups, according to nicotine concentration: high, low, and none.
They are then classified again based on three criteria:
- Quitters: People who only use vapes.
- Smokers who reduce their smoking: People who reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke by vaping.
- Failure: People who try to cut down on smoking by using vapes but are unsuccessful.
- Before, during, and after the study, the research team will monitor three biomarkers to determine possible changes. The markers include:
- Systolic blood pressure
- Low blood pressure
- Heart rate
- Each participant was given a three-piece cig a like and separate e-liquid cartridges.
- 145 of the 211 participants had signs of high blood pressure at the start of the study.
- 66 participants were observed to have signs of reduced blood pressure and heart rate.
The majority of participants who did not have symptoms of high blood pressure at the start of the study also experienced no changes in their systolic blood pressure or heart rate throughout the study. However, this is also considered good news, as it shows that vaping does not affect biomarkers. Meanwhile, 66 subjects with signs of high blood pressure also experienced a reduction in these parameters, thereby suggesting that vaping may reduce blood pressure .
Source: Matt Rowland - Vapes.com
Translated by: The Vape Club
