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Electronic cigarettes are not considered as dangerous as ordinary cigarettes, but researchers have found an indication that their aroma may be harmful to the heart.
Long-time smokers who can not rid themselves of their addiction sometimes switch to e-cigarettes in the hope of avoiding the carcinogenic chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
But smoking does not just cause lung cancer. It is also a major cause of heart attacks and little is known about electronic cigarettes and heart disease. The chemicals contained in inhaled vapors can pose unique risks that it is important to understand, especially as more and more teenagers are taking fumes.
"It is not possible for me to go to a patient and strip him of his artery and test it" to detect a reaction to vaping, said Dr. Joseph Wu, director of the US Department of Health. Cardiovascular institute of Stanford University.
So, his team tried the best thing for a study published on Monday: in laboratory pans, they grew cells that normally line healthy human blood vessels. They exposed the cells to six different electronic cigarette flavors and checked if the flavors – not just the nicotine – had effects.
They also followed what happened when these cells were bathed in blood taken from people just after receiving an electronic cigarette, in the same way that vaping chemicals were found in the cardiovascular system. They also compared the exposure of cells to the blood of nonsmokers and people smoking an ordinary cigarette.
Research and some aromas, even without nicotine, have triggered blood vessel dysfunction that may increase the risk of heart disease, researchers at the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported.
Cinnamon and menthol seemed the most toxic. But overall, the cells showed signs of damage and were inflamed, less able to form new blood vessels or heal wounds.
Small laboratory studies like this one can not prove that vaping really hurts, warned Jane Freedman of the University of Mbadachusetts, who did not participate in the research. But she said the work should trigger additional security testing.
The results "suggest that even without the smoke of combustible cigarette products, there could be a smoldering fire of adverse health effects," she wrote in an accompanying editorial.
At a recent cardiac meeting, another study looked at medical records to conclude that e-cigarette users had a higher risk of heart attack than those who used neither vape nor tobacco, but that Was also only a clue, not a proof.
Wu's team plans additional studies. The researchers are working with so-called "iPS" cells, ordinary cells taken from healthy volunteers and reprogrammed in a state where they can be grown in any type of tissue. The following tests focus on the heart and brain tissue.
US public health officials are alarmed by an explosion of juvenile vaping, but Wu said it was not just a question for teens. He is worried about people already suffering from heart disease and may think that switching from tobacco to electronic cigarettes is enough protection.
"It's really a warning that people should not be complacent and think that these electronic cigarettes are completely safe," Wu said.
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