According to Johns Hopkins researchers, vaping increases the risk of high blood sugar and diabetes

Scientists at one of America’s leading medical research universities have warned that a “significant” new study should serve as a serious wake-up call for e-cigarette users.

According to a report published Wednesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, frequent vaping can increase a person’s risk of developing high blood sugar — known in medical circles as prediabetes — which is reversible but often leads to full-blown type 2 diabetes and a slew of serious health problems later in life.

“Our study demonstrated a clear association of prediabetes risk with the use of e-cigarettes,” said lead study author Shyam Biswal, an environmental health science professor at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, SWNS reported.

Biswal continued, “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.”

E-cigarettes have previously been linked to more than 200 health issues, including brittle bones, erectile dysfunction, and even eating disorders.

Researchers discovered the latest troubling link after analysing the health records of over 600,000 people in the United States, more than 9% of whom were current e-cigarette users with self-reported prediabetes diagnoses.

They discovered that those who vape — a popular pastime among teenagers and twenty-somethings — are 22% more likely to develop prediabetes than those who have never vaped. Traditional cigarette users, on the other hand, were 40% more likely to suffer from the condition.

“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,” Biswal said, adding that vaping participants had worse mental and physical health than nonsmokers.

The relationship between electronic tobacco dispensers and prediabetes remains unknown. However, nicotine, which is present in both e-cigarettes and traditional cancer sticks, has been shown to raise blood sugar levels. And, while prediabetes is reversible, it is a precursor to type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition which can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and other serious complications.

The researchers were particularly alarmed by the correlation because e-cigarettes, which come in a Willy Wonka-esque range of flavours ranging from green tea to strawberry kiwi, have been promoted by UK public health officials as a better alternative to the non-electronic version. The US Food and Drug Administration made history this October by approving an electronic cigarette that the regulator believes will help smokers cut back on traditional tobacco cigarettes.

“We were surprised by the findings linking prediabetes to e-cigarettes because they are marketed as a safer alternative, which we now know is not the case,” professor Biswal said. This is concerning because “both e-cigarette use and the prevalence of prediabetes” have significantly increased since 2012, according to the researcher.

To buck the trend, scientists are pleading with government officials to crack down on e-cigarette vendors.

“Our smoking cessation efforts have resulted in a decrease in traditional cigarette smoking,” Biswal said. “With this information, it’s time to step up our public health efforts to promote e-cigarette cessation.”

In a victory for anti-vapers, Juul Labs agreed to pay North Carolina $40 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the state accusing the manufacturer of marketing its products to minors. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation in 2019 prohibiting the sale of flavoured vaping products throughout the five boroughs.

However, not everyone agrees with the e-cigarette ban; some vaping crusaders blame the bans for increasing cigarette use for the first time in two decades.