Heated tobacco is becoming more popular worldwide and is often promoted as a less harmful option than cigarettes.
New findings, however, suggest that even a single use may have an impact on cardiovascular health.
Rather than burning tobacco, these products warm processed tobacco to create an inhalable nicotine aerosol.
“Heated tobacco products are often marketed as less harmful alternatives to conventional cigarettes,” said lead author Lea Strohm, a scientist at University Medical Center Mainz in Germany. “However, independent evidence on their immediate effects on cardiovascular health, and the body as a whole, remains limited.”
In a study involving 30 otherwise healthy smokers, researchers measured the effects of using two heated tobacco sticks over 8 to 12 minutes.
They reported reduced blood vessel function, higher blood pressure and signs of DNA damage in blood cells.
Blood vessel function fell by 11%, while systolic blood pressure, the upper number in a reading, increased by about 3 points.
“These results challenge claims that heated tobacco products are substantially less harmful to the cardiovascular system compared with conventional cigarettes,” Strohm said in a news release.
The researchers said heated tobacco should be treated like cigarettes, including limits on advertising and flavors, to help protect young people from nicotine addiction.
They also said further research is needed to better understand the long-term health risks.
The study appeared in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
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