Diabetes warning over e-cigarettes: Vaping devices could raise risk of high blood sugar, scientists say
- Vaping devices are 22% more likely to have high blood sugar, scientists warn
- This is known as prediabetes and there is a call to discourage people using them
- Traditional cigarettes make smokers 40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes
E-cigarettes could raise the risk of high blood sugar levels, putting users on the brink of diabetes, scientists warn.
People who puff on vaping devices are 22 per cent more likely to have high blood sugar – known as prediabetes – compared with those who have never used them.
Traditional cigarettes make smokers 40 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
But it seems e-cigarettes might have an effect on blood sugar levels, too.
Scientists want public health campaigns to discourage people from using the devices.
People who puff on vaping devices are 22 per cent more likely to have high blood sugar – known as prediabetes – compared with those who have never used them
A US team from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland analysed data from 600,000 people in America.
They looked for links between e-cigarette use and prediabetes – a serious health condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes.
Their results, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, revealed that not only were current e-cigarette users 22 per cent more likely to have prediabetes compared with those who those who had never used them, but former users still had a 12 per cent higher risk.
Traditional cigarettes make smokers 40 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes
Lead author Dr Shyam Biswal said: ‘We were surprised. E-cigarettes are touted as a safer alternative, which is not the case. It is time to ramp up public health efforts to promote the cessation of e-cigarettes.’
Some 3.6million people used e-cigarettes in the UK last year.
The NHS plans to prescribe them to help people quit smoking.
The possible link between them and prediabetes is not understood, but nicotine which is in normal cigarettes and e-cigarettes – is known to raise blood sugar.
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