United States – In exercise bike tests, people in their twenties who had vaped for 2 or more years had significantly lower exercise capacity than the rest, and the same was true for people who had smoked for the same amount of time, as reported by HealthDay.
The vaping young adults “found it harder to breathe, their muscles became more fatigued and were overall less fit,” stated Dr. Azmy Faisal of Manchester Metropolitan University in the U.S.
Vaping as Harmful as Smoking
According to Faisal, in this regard, our research showed that vaping is as bad as smoking, and this was revealed at the annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society ( ERS) in Madrid on Sunday.
As cited from Faisal, it is now a well-established fact that e-cig use “is linked to lung inflammation and damage, and harmful changes to the blood vessels.”
There still remains a question about whether, for young smokers, it can be even healthier to switch to vaping. In an ERS news release, he stated that the jury is still out on that one.
“We don’t yet know what longer-term vaping use does to our bodies,” he explained.
Comparing Exercise Performance in Smokers, Vapers, and Non-Users
To find out, the Manchester team enlisted 60 young adults in their 20s with no clinical indication of lung disease based on spirometry.
Every actor had to undergo exercise tests on the stationary bike, and the exercise was intensified to the maximum level.
Changes in the characteristics of the heart rate, lung sounds, and muscular contractions were observed. Blood analysis and Doppler ultrasound were used to evaluate artery function.
Certain differences could be graduated or measured with relative ease. For instance, the smokers and vapers were obviously out of breath well before exercise soreness, indicating exercise capacity and much earlier compared to non-vaping, non-smoking participants.
It was also observed that vapers’ and smokers’ legs got adjusted for fatigue during exercises. In blood tests, they also noted that athletes had increased levels of lactate, which indicates muscle fatigue before they achieved their peak performance.
Blood tests and ultrasound scans also found that the smokers/vapers ‘ blood vessel efficiency was lower than people with no such habits.
Blood Vessel Function and Muscle Fatigue
In exercising ability, the capacity of the vapers and smokers were almost similar, with the highest values being 186 watts for the vapers and 182 watts for the smokers. That is compared to the baseline of the average of 226 watts of maximum exercise capacity of never-smokers/vapers.
Oxygen Intake and Overall Fitness Declines
Last but not least, the rate of oxygen on average in exercising vapers and smokers was significantly lower than in newer ones, with approximately 2.7 liters per minute, 2.6 liters per minute for the first flume, and 3 liters per minute in the second flume.
“In this study, what we focused on was a group of young people with no sign of lung disease,” Faisal said. “A comparison of people who vaped or smoked for a duration of two years and the two groups’ ability to cope with exercises was as follows. ”
Health Experts Call for Greater Awareness
Professor Filippos Filippidis is the Chair of the ERS Tobacco Control Committee and a Reader in Public Health at Imperial College London. He was not a participant in the study, as reported by HealthDay.
According to Filippidis, “Although it’s always a challenge to know if the associations we find in these studies are causal or a result of some other systematic differences between groups, people who vape need to be aware that using these products could make them less fit and able to take part in the exercise. Doctors and policymakers also need to know about the risks of vaping, and we should be doing all we can to support children and young people to avoid or quit vaping.”