Response to stories suggesting that vaping is as bad for the heart as cigarettes
Articles on Tuesday 30th August in The Times, Telegraph, The Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail reported that “vaping risk is similar to smoking” and that vaping is “as bad for the heart as cigarettes”.
Professor Peter Hajek, director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Queen Mary University London, said:
“The study is reporting on a well-known short-term effect of nicotine – stiffening of arteries – that accompanies all types of stimulation. The same effect is generated by watching a thriller or a football match or sitting an exam. Drinking a cup of coffee actually produces a larger response of much longer duration. The key heart health risks of smoking are not caused by nicotine but by other chemicals in tobacco smoke that are not present in e-cigarette vapour.”
Document type: For The Record
Published: 31 August 2016
Source: Sense About Science
