E-cigarettes may harm blood vessels

PHILADELPHIA: A new research has shown that people show signs of impaired blood vessel function after just a few puffs of an electronic cigarette.

The Author of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Alessandra Caporale said, “We have essentially found that using e-cigarettes is not equivalent to inhaling water vapour.”

She added, “In fact, it can exert acute, detrimental effects on blood vessels even when the liquid does not contain nicotine.”

Dr. Caporale noted in the study that the vaping, sometimes described as a safer alternative to smoking, is after all a harmful activity.

In a previous study, they found that vaping e-cigarettes increased signs of inflammation and causes a form of tissue damage known as oxidative stress.

In the new study, the authors have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to take several measurements of blood vessel function in 31 healthy adults who had never smoked before.

Dr. Caporale noted that the participants took 16 three-second puffs of an e-cigarette containing propylene glycol, glycerol, and flavouring, but no nicotine.

She added that after vaping, study participants showed several changes indicating that vascular reactivity- which is the ability of healthy blood vessels to widen when necessary- was considerably and significantly impaired.

The researcher said that the changes were temporary, but if repeated over a long period of time could cause inflammation and deterioration of blood vessel health.

The researcher added, “We are far from suggesting that a single episode of vaping translates immediately into atherosclerosis.”

An e-cigarette is a battery-powered device that features a glowing tip and a heating element that turns liquid nicotine into a cloud of vapour that users inhale.

Each drop of liquid lasts for approximately seven puffs, so two drops are roughly equal to one cigarette i.e. fourteen puffs.