A recent clinical study conducted at the Department of Cardiology in the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center located in Athens, Greece examined the effects of smoking vs. vaping on the heart. The purpose of the study was to see if “e-cigarette use has any immediate adverse effects on cardiac function compared to using tobacco cigarette”.

All participants were deemed healthy and had no risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), with tobacco users smoking at least 15 cigarettes/day for more than 5 years and e-cig users vaping for at least 1 month prior to study. The smokers had 1 cigarette containing 1mg nicotine and the e-cig users vaped for 7 minutes using e-liquid with nicotine concentration of 11mg/ml or 1.1%.

The study found that smokers experienced an increase in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 7.6% and 6.3% respectively. Smokers also had an increased heart rate of 10.4% while e-cig users ONLY had an increase in diastolic blood pressure of 4.4%.

Conclusion: An increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) puts smokers at risk for hypertension which eventually can lead to CVD while vaping has no direct effect on SBP or heart rate, making e-cigs a much safer alternative than tobacco cigarettes.

*See the Results of Study here.