Dr. James Stein and Dr. Tim Baker with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine were granted $5.7 million dollars from the National Institute of Health to fund their new study, Vape Check, in early January.
The study is a collaboration between the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention Center and the UW Health Preventive Cardiology program aiming to assess the long-term health effects of nicotine on the circulatory system in the human body. It is the first of its kind to assess the long-term effects of vaping as most other studies conducted in a similar nature explore only the short-term effects.
Vaping is harmful to developing brains, according to the American Lung Association. The habit affects attention, learning, mood, impulse control and memory.
Baker is the associate director of the UW Tobacco Research and Intervention Center and holds a doctorate in Psychology. He, along with Stein, are co-leaders of this study.
“Our inspiration for this study is that we know too little about the long term health effects,” Baker said. “Most of the research we currently have available is retrospective.”
Baker and Stein seek to characterize the effects of e-cigarette usage as accurately as possible with this study as opposed to proving that vaping causes harm. The team is looking for signs of diseases in the heart, circulatory system, lungs and blood vessels.
The researchers plan on doing this by measuring various biomarkers of study participants. Participants will undergo blood tests to identify possible inflammation, an electrocardiogram measuring heart function, an ultrasound of the carotid arteries to measure structural changes that can be precursors to cardiovascular disease.
Participants in the study are also asked to exercise frequently. After exercise, their vitals are recorded. Flexibility of blood vessels is also measured to determine increases in blood flow post exercise, along with measuring the amount of oxygen that’s present in the human body after intense physical activity. Participants will also undergo CT scans to get a sense of the fine structure of lungs.
Of the 400 people will be recruited for this study, 200 of them being adults over the age of 21 who vape regularly and the other 200 people being adults who do not vape. Participants will be compensated up to $675 for participation for three years.
The study aims to equip policymakers with the evidence necessary to enforce further legislation and clinicians with evidence to better understand the risk of e-cigarettes, Baker said.
“We plan on educating UW students on the severe health risks of vaping by publishing our results in accredited science journals and presenting our findings at scientific conferences,” Baker said.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of the name of the researcher Dr. James Stein.