More evidence that e-cigs have rapid and substantial adverse effects on the cardiovascular system

Charalambos Vlachopoulos and colleagues just published “Electronic Cigarette Smoking Increases Aortic Stiffness and Blood Pressure in Young Smokers” in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, which adds to the evidence that e-cigarettes have immediate and substantial adverse effects on the cardiovascular system.
 
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 increase in blood pressure was about 80% as big as for a conventional cigarette for both.
 
Thus, like passive cigarette smoking, the effects of e-cigarette use are nearly as big as smoking despite the lower dose of toxins.  This is more evidence for the nonlinear effects of smoke/aerosol on the cardiovascular system.
 
The fill citation is Vlachopoulos C, et al.  Electronic Cigarette Smoking Increases Aortic Stiffness and Blood Pressure in Young Smokers.  J Am Coll Cardiol 2016 Jun 14;67(23):2802-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2016.03.569. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2016.03.569.