Anti-Tobacco Researcher: Cardiovascular Effects of E-Cigarettes are Nearly as Big as Smoking

Dr. Stan Glantz has posted acommentary on his blog in which he asserts that the results of apaper published earlier this summer in theJournal of the American College of Cardiology demonstrate that " the [cardiovascular] effects of e-cigarette use are nearly as big as smoking. "Dr. Glantz nicely summarizes the major study results: " One of the many ways that smoking damages the cardiovascular system is by stiffening major blood vessels. How stiff the aorta (the big vessel leading directly out of the heart) is can be measured by how fast the pressure wave moves down the aorta, the pulse wave moving faster when the aorta is stiffer. Following use of an e-cigarette for just 5 minutes, the pulse wave velocity increased by about 40% as much as smoking a conventional cigarettes and about 80% after 30 minutes of use. "The Rest of the StoryI agree that the study reveals that vaping has acute adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. However, I would not describe the effects of vaping as being " nearly as big as smoking. " After all, smoking causes heart disease and stroke. All this study demonstrates is that vaping causes acute arterial stiffness. The study does not demonstrate whether over time, this acute effect will actually translate into vascular disease.The results of the study are not at all surprising, since we already knew thatnicotine itself causes arterial stiffness. Thus, it would have been shocking if vaping wasnot found to increase arterial stiffness.What Dr. Glantz ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs