Some see electronic cigarettes as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. Instead of tobacco, they inhale liquid vapor, which is usually mixed with flavors and nicotine. But a study revealed that the alternative has serious effects on blood vessels to increase the risk of stroke.
Some smokers have abandoned traditional tobacco cigarettes to smoking electronic cigarettes for fear of the dangers of smell and hands and clothes, believing that e-cigarettes are less harmful to health and help them quit the harmful habit.
But a recent study brought them the bad news, finding that e-cigarette vapor - presumably harmless - could harm vascular health.
Only a few puffs can significantly affect blood vessels and interfere with their normal functions, including even smoking nicotine-free liquids. Researchers suspect that the components of the liquid turn into potentially harmful substances during evaporation.
Although the evaporation of these liquids seems completely harmless compared to the smoke emitted by tobacco, a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the US pointed out that the e-cigarette vapor contains free radicals and other potentially harmful substances and possibly carcinogenic.
Even liquids with nicotine-free flavors can be clearly dangerous. Thus, cell experiments indicate a detrimental effect of some flavors on the cells of the walls of blood vessels, as the German scientific site Scinexx reports.
A research team led by Alessandra Caborell of the University of Pennsylvania examined the impact of e-cigarette consumption on vascular health. In a test of 31 healthy non-smokers, they used MRI to examine their arteries and veins, including the aorta and the femoral artery.
During the study, they temporarily tied the leg with a special ligament and observed how quickly the blood flowing through the vessels naturally and how much they dilated due to increased blood flow. This extension, called medial flow, is a measure of vascular health and also provides crucial evidence of cardiovascular disease.
To achieve the breath-pulling effect of the electronic evaporator, the researchers pulled 16 breaths of three seconds each, and the liquid used consisted mainly of propylene glycol and tobacco-flavored glycerol, but no nicotine.
The result was that even short-term inhalations had a pronounced effect on the vessels. Thus, it was found that femoral artery blood flow decreased and was significantly less dilated. On average, the median flow decreased by 34%. In addition, the oxygen content of the vein was 20% lower than it was before smoking the electronic cigarette.
According to the team, these findings suggest that smoking electronic cigarettes has negative effects on the cells of the walls of blood vessels, and it is known that these endothelial cells lining the blood vessels and is of great importance in the regulation of blood circulation. Damage to the endothelial membrane can lead to thickening of the arterial walls, for example, thereby enhancing heart attack and stroke.