Many people don't consider e-cigarettes to be as bad as smoking, however a new study has found that certain flavourings could be linked to heart disease - specifically cinnamon and menthol.
According to a report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, even non-nicotine vaping prompts dysfunction in the blood vessels that can increase the likelihood of developing heart disease.
READ MORE: E-cigarettes are just as bad for your lungs as smoke, study finds
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In their experiment, researchers exposed health human blood vessels to six different non-nicotine vape flavourings.
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Advertise with NZME.Even without nicotine, the flavourings caused blood vessel dysfunction comparable with someone who had smoked a normal cigarette.
The most harmful flavours were found to be cinnamon and menthol.
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As vaping is still a relatively new trend, the long term effects are still unclear - but Dr Joseph Wu, director of Stanford University's cardiovascular institute, warns that smokers who decide to swap to e-cigarettes for health reasons may have
to rethink their decision.
"This is really a warning shot that people should not be complacent and think that these e-cigarettes are completely safe," warns Dr Wu.