A study from researchers suggests that vaping contributes to higher risks of high blood sugar and diabetes in humans.
BALTIMORE — Researchers from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health found that vaping increases risks of high blood sugar (known as prediabetes) and diabetes.
The researchers filed a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine documenting their medical findings.
“Our study demonstrated a clear association of prediabetes risk with the use of e-cigarettes,” said Shyam Biswal, the study’s lead investigator and a researcher at Bloomberg’s research Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. “With both e-cigarette use and prevalence of prediabetes dramatically on the rise in the past decade, our discovery that e-cigarettes carry a similar risk to traditional cigarettes with respect to diabetes is important for understanding and treating vulnerable individuals.”
According to the results, 600,046 respondents were reviewed. ‘In this representative sample of U.S. adults, E-cigarette use was associated with greater odds of prediabetes. Results were consistent in sole E-cigarette users,” notes the study’s narrative.
“Our effort for smoking cessation has led to a decrease in smoking traditional cigarettes. With this information, it is time for us to ramp up our public health efforts to promote the cessation of e-cigarettes,” Biswal further cautioned in his statement.
Researchers further noted that the association of e-cigarettes with an element of prediabetes is a direct threat to public health.
Prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar level is higher than it should be but isn’t enough for a doctor to diagnose a case of diabetes. Further, prediabetes is a condition that is known as impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance. For instance, type 2 diabetes diagnoses are usually based on prediabetes but that isn’t usually a cause of symptoms.
Prediabetes is reversible with lifestyle changes and management, notes Biswal and the authors of the study. The authors make a compelling case for targeting the reduction of e-cigarettes use and education among young adults as a means to further prevent the increased incidence of prediabetes in American respondents.
“We were surprised by the findings associating prediabetes with e-cigarettes because they are touted as a safer alternative, which we now know is not the case,” he said. “In the case of cigarette smoking, nicotine has a detrimental effect on insulin action, and it appears that e-cigarettes may also have the same effect.”
