Heated tobacco use produced immediate measurable changes
Using two heated-tobacco sticks in one session was associated with measurable short-term changes in blood vessels, blood pressure, oxygen delivery and blood-cell DNA in a study of 30 healthy adult smokers.
The research, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, examined participants before and after they used two sticks back-to-back in a tobacco-heating device. The investigators collected blood samples, measured blood pressure and used ultrasound to assess function in the main artery of the right arm.
Heated-tobacco products heat tobacco rather than burn it and are often presented as lower-harm alternatives to conventional cigarettes. The study does not establish the long-term health consequences of one session, but it does provide evidence of acute biological effects that researchers say should be considered in public-health discussions of nicotine products.
What the researchers measured
The participants were adult smokers with an average age of 34 who were otherwise healthy. Each completed the same assessments before and after using the product, allowing the team to compare their own measurements across the session.
Systolic blood pressure rose by 3 millimetres of mercury after use. The researchers also reported an 11% decline in flow-mediated dilation, a measure of how much an artery widens as blood flow increases. In the study, reduced dilation indicated poorer blood-vessel function after the session.
Measurements also pointed to a sharp change in venous oxygen saturation, the proportion of oxygen bound to haemoglobin in blood returning to the heart. It fell from roughly 71% before use to roughly 46% after use. The researchers described this as a sign that oxygen delivery around the body had been reduced.
Blood testing identified signs of DNA damage in blood cells as well as an oxidative-stress response. Oxidative stress is the term used when cells are responding to potentially damaging conditions. Taken together, the findings show that the observed effects were not limited to a temporary change in one cardiovascular reading.
Why the findings matter
The study focused on immediate effects, not on a comparison of lifetime risks between heated tobacco and conventional cigarettes. Its results therefore should not be read as a full accounting of relative harm. But the authors say the findings challenge claims that heated products are substantially less harmful to the cardiovascular system.
That distinction matters because products marketed as alternatives can be understood by users as carrying little or no health cost. The measurements in this experiment suggest that a heating device does not prevent an acute vascular response after use. The DNA-damage and oxidative-stress findings also broaden the concern beyond blood-pressure changes alone.
Lead researcher Lea Strohm of University Medical Center Mainz said independent evidence on the immediate cardiovascular and whole-body effects of heated tobacco has remained limited. The study adds a controlled before-and-after assessment to that evidence base, using multiple measures in the same group of users.
A narrow study with a clear immediate signal
The research involved 30 people and measured outcomes over a single use session. It does not show how persistent the changes are, whether they recur in the same way with repeated exposure, or how results may differ among non-smokers, people with cardiovascular disease or users of other nicotine products.
Those limits are important, particularly when interpreting the oxygen-saturation result and laboratory measures of cellular damage. The study nevertheless found changes across several assessments immediately after participants used heated tobacco, rather than relying on a single self-reported symptom or isolated laboratory marker.
The authors argue that public-health policy should consider all nicotine-containing products. Their central point is practical: heating tobacco does not mean it is biologically inert. In this study, one short session was followed by reduced vessel function, higher systolic blood pressure, lower venous oxygen saturation and signs of cellular stress and DNA damage.
Further research will be needed to establish the duration and clinical significance of these acute findings. For now, the study offers direct evidence that heated-tobacco exposure can be followed quickly by measurable effects in healthy smokers.
This article is based on reporting by Medical Xpress. Read the original article.
Originally published on medicalxpress.com
