Electronic cigarettes and high blood pressure

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Did you know that electronic cigarettes and high blood pressure are related? The electronic cigarette may not cause damage to the heart, but it causes a slight increase in blood pressure. This tool for the fight on smoking can help smokers abandon the habit that will cause 1 billion deaths this century. The research of Konstantinos Farsalinos of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Greece was presented at an European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress. The authors measured cardiac function in 20 healthy smokers between 25 and 45 years of age, before and after smoking a real cigarette and in 22 volunteers in the same age group before and after using an electronic cigarette for 7 minutes. What emerged is that while the first group showed a significant increase in both heart rate and blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic), the second group only experienced an increase in diastolic (minimum) blood pressure. The echocardiogram revealed that those who smoked regular cigarettes showed significant alterations in the parameters of cardiac function, while those who smoked electronic cigarettes did not show any difference despite the limited dose of nicotine (11 milligrams/milliliter) present in the liquid of the product. Farsalinos points out that more information is necessary in order to claim that this is a truly revolutionary product, but that based on the data available so far, the electronic cigarette can be considered a much safer alternative to tobacco. Certainly a good step towards quitting altogether. Cardiologists however warn that while electronic cigarettes are a useful tool to stop smoking, it is recommended to use liquids that do not contain nicotine, as in depth studies on the subject are not yet available.

 

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