PUFFING on just one e-cigarette could increase your risk of heart attack or stroke, experts have warned.
A single vaping session is all it takes to cause “immediate and significant” damage to the body’s blood vessels, they found.
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Stop smoking aid
E-cigarettes are widely accepted to be a safe alternative to regular cigarettes, and Public Health England advises them as a tool to help smokers quit.
They give smokers the nicotine hit they crave, without exposing them to tobacco – linked to lung cancer, COPD, asthma and other respiratory problems.
But this new study has added to fears that vaping itself can be harmful to the body – even when there’s no nicotine.
The findings suggest that just the process of turning e-liquid into vapour can be dangerous, causing significant damage.
Vaping damages blood vessels
A team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania performed MRI scans on 31 healthy, non-smokers before and after using nicotine-free e-cigarettes.
They found just one session puffing on the device caused reduced blood flow.
Vaping was also found to damage the endothelium – a thin membrane that lines the inside of the heart and blood vessels – in the femoral artery, that supplies blood to the thigh and leg.
The endothelium is essential for proper blood circulation, the study’s authors said.
Once it’s damaged, the arteries can thicken and blood flow to the heart or brain can be cut off – causing a heart attack or stroke.
Vapour turns toxic
Professor Felix Wehrli, who led the study, said: “While e-cigarette liquid may be relatively harmless, the vapourisation process can transform the molecules – primarily propylene and glycerol – into toxic substances.
“Beyond the harmful effects of nicotine, we’ve shown that vaping has a sudden, immediate effect on the body’s vascular function and could potentially lead to long-term harmful consequences.”
All the volunteers took 16, three-second puffs from nicotine-free e-cigs.
Scientists then used a cuff to see how quickly blood flowed before and after using the device.
And MRI scans helped them assess how blood vessels were affected.
They found a 34 per cent reduction in the femoral artery’s ability to dilate – or open to let blood through.
E-cigarettes also caused a 17.5 per cent reduction in peak blood flow, a 20 per cent reduction in venous oxygen and a 26 per cent reduction in blood acceleration after the cuff was released – the speed at which blood returned to the normal flow after it was restricted.
Inhaling ‘more than water vapour’
Dr Alessandra Caporale, who helped lead the study, said these findings suggest vaping causes significant changes to the inner lining of blood vessels.
“E-cigarettes are advertised as not harmful, and many e-cigarette users are convinced that they are just inhaling water vapour,” she said.
“But the solvents, flavourings and additives in the liquid base after vapourisation expose users to multiple insults to the respiratory tract and blood vessels.”
E-cigarettes are battery operated devices that convert liquid into an aerosol or vapour, which is then inhaled into the user’s lungs.
Typically, the liquid contains addictive nicotine, as well as different flavours.
While it is generally accepted that vaping is less harmful than smoking, there are fears people non-smokers are getting hooked on nicotine by vaping.
And experts have warned the dangers of e-cigarettes remain unclear.
Prof Wehrli said more research is needed but he predicts e-cigarettes are more hazardous that previously assumed.
“I would warn young people to not even get started using e-cigarettes,” he said.
“The common belief is that the nicotine is what is toxic, but we have found that dangers exist, independent of nicotine.
“Clearly if there is an effect after a single use of an e-cigarette, then you can imagine what kind of permanent damage could be caused after vaping regularly over years.”
The team’s findings are published in the journal Radiology.
