Khaberni - Experts in cardiovascular diseases have warned that nicotine poses a direct risk to the heart, regardless of how it is consumed, emphasizing that there are no nicotine-containing products that can be considered safe.
This warning came in a report published in the European Journal of Heart Disease, summarizing the results of all published studies on the effects of nicotine on the heart and blood vessels, marking the first of its kind to address the harms of all nicotine products, not just traditional smoking.
Increasing Nicotine Usage Among Youth
The report highlights the rapid increase in the use of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches, especially among teenagers and young adults, pointing out that about three-quarters of young electronic cigarette users have never smoked before, which heightens concerns about these products becoming a new gateway to nicotine addiction.
The authors of the report confirmed that this spread is driven by appealing flavors, intense marketing through social media and influencers, along with regulatory loopholes that allow these products to spread without sufficient restrictions.
Scientific Consensus on the Dangers of Nicotine
The heart experts involved in the report unanimously agreed that nicotine is a potent toxic substance for the heart and blood vessels, causing high blood pressure, damaging blood vessels, and increasing the risk of heart disease, whether it is consumed through traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, shisha, heated tobacco, or oral nicotine pouches.
The report emphasized that passive exposure to cigarette smoke, as well as emissions from electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, also damages blood vessels, affirming that there is no "safe" way to use nicotine.
Despite clear current evidence, the researchers noted that the long-term effects of modern tobacco products are still not fully understood, necessitating further studies, especially given the widespread dual use of more than one nicotine product at the same time, complicating the assessment of each product's impact individually.
The report also denied claims promoting electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches as effective means for quitting smoking, generally considering them gateways to it or leading to their use in parallel with traditional cigarettes.
Call for Urgent Policy Action
The report's authors called for a comprehensive package of measures to curb the spread of nicotine, including banning flavors in all its products, imposing taxes proportional to the nicotine content, adopting standardized packaging, implementing strict laws to prevent smoking and the use of vaporizers in both indoor and outdoor areas, as well as tightening control over online sales and banning advertisements on social media.
They also recommended integrating nicotine prevention into cardiovascular healthcare and developing national plans for heart disease prevention that treat nicotine as a major risk factor.
