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Man vape People who have never used e-cigarettes are almost 20 percent more likely to develop heart failure, an important new study has found.

A US study is the most conclusive evidence yet that e-cigarettes can cause heart failure. Heart failure is an incurable disease in which the heart is unable to pump blood properly throughout the body.

Approximately 1.7 million adults in Australia currently vape, and the trend has been steadily increasing since 2018.

woman smoking electronic cigarette
Since the law was introduced on March 1, Australians can only buy e-cigarettes with a prescription. (St. Petersburg)

The US study, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Sessions, looked at a very large sample size of 175,667 participants with an average age of 52 years.

Of this group, 3,242 developed heart failure within an average follow-up period of 45 months.

“A growing body of research is linking e-cigarettes to adverse effects, showing that they may not be as safe as previously thought,” said study lead author Yaqub Bene Alhassan, Ph.D. Ta.

“The difference we saw was significant.

“It’s worth considering the impact on your health, especially your heart health.”

Researchers said they considered demographic and socio-economic differences, heart disease risk factors, and people’s past and current substance use, such as alcohol and tobacco products, when determining the probabilities.

Electronic nicotine products have often been touted as a safer alternative to smoking, but new research is beginning to question that and highlight potential negative effects.

About 400,000 people started vaping in the 12 months from December 2022 to 2023, according to a report prepared for the Australian government last year.

This represents a 30% increase over the previous year.

In 2019, only 9.6% of Australian teens aged 14 to 17 had used e-cigarettes. This percentage almost tripled to 28% from 2022 to 2023.

man smokes an electronic cigarette
Vaping is especially popular among young people. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Bene-Alhassan said his study was “long overdue, especially given how much attention e-cigarettes have received.”

“We don’t want to wait too long until we finally find out that it could be harmful. By then, a lot of the harm may have already been done.”

Australia is taking legislative action to try to block easy access to e-cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes containing nicotine are currently sold only in pharmacies.

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