E-cigarette use has been linked to an increased risk of prediabetes, according to researchers at the University of Georgia and colleagues who analyzed more than 1.2 million CDC surveys in the United States. The study results are published in the journal AJPM Focus.
Prediabetes is a condition where your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes. It's a kind of “yellow traffic light” from your body, warning you of serious danger ahead. And now, a habit that many consider relatively safe may be one of the factors that brings this risk closer.
Scientists found that those who only inhale vapor from e-cigarettes have a 7 percent higher chance of developing prediabetes than nonsmokers. In smokers of traditional tobacco, the risk was 15 percent, and in those who combine both types of nicotine, it was 28 percent. At the same time, “dual users” were more likely to develop diabetes itself – the risk of developing it was 9 percent higher than among nonsmokers.
If your health is a road without obstacles, then vaping creates a small but noticeable “speed bump” on it. Smoking regular cigarettes is already a much higher obstacle. And combining both habits is like trying to drive over a real barrier, which significantly increases the risk of an “accident”, that is, the development of a serious illness.
The authors emphasize that despite its reputation as a “safer” alternative, vaping may secretly contribute to impaired sugar metabolism and long-term complications for the heart, kidneys, and nervous system. Overweight people and certain ethnic groups have been found to be particularly vulnerable.
Think of your body as a complex clockwork. Traditional smoking is like a hard blow to it. Vaping, at first glance, does not cause such damage, but it can act like sand that imperceptibly gets into the gears. Over time, this “sand” disrupts the entire system, including the way the body processes energy from food (sugar). And while the lungs may suffer less, other vital “details” are at risk – the heart, kidneys, and even the “wiring” of the nervous system.
The researchers note that the study is observational, so it's not yet clear whether vaping causes prediabetes. However, the results from a large sample suggest that the effects of vaping go far beyond the lungs and can affect the entire body.
