Although cigarette smoking is the most harmful form of nicotine use, all nicotine-containing products produce adverse cardiovascular effects, according to a recent review.(opens in new tab)
The research, published in Nature Reviews Cardiology, outlines how nicotine damages blood vessels at the biological level. Nicotine causes oxidative stress, inflammation, and depletion of nitric oxide, which relaxes the blood vessels. This pathway leads to endothelial dysfunction, which constricts the arteries and serves as an early marker for atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart failure. Combustion amplifies the effects, meaning products such as cigarettes pose the greatest risk, but noncombusted products still set off similar signaling cascades.
Heated products pose the second greatest cardiovascular risk, followed by aerosol devices such as e-cigarettes, then oral nicotine products, including chewing tobacco and pouches.
The findings establish a hierarchy of cardiovascular harm for nicotine products, the researchers said, with nicotine abstinence as the only option that’s completely risk-free. They added that given the known cardiovascular toxicity and high addictive potential of nicotine, products containing the substance should be comprehensively regulated across all delivery platforms.
No comments:
Post a Comment