即使沒有尼古丁，只吸一次也能立即改變你的血管

即使沒有尼古丁，只吸一次也能立即改變你的血管

For more than a decade, vaping has been sold as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. But puffing on an e-cigarette is not without its harms.

十多年來，電子煙一直被視為比吸煙更安全的選擇。但是吸電子煙也有它的危害。

In recent years, a growing number of concerns have surfaced over vaping and its potential to disrupt our health. Normal cigarettes are a leading cause of cardiovascular disease in the United States, and a new study suggests the effects of e-cigarettes may also travel beyond the lung.

近年來，越來越多的人開始關注電子煙及其對健康的潛在危害。在美國，普通香煙是導致心血管疾病的主要原因，而一項新的研究表明，電子煙的影響也可能不只是肺部。

After just one puff, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found an immediate change in the body's blood vessels and circulation, even when there was absolutely no nicotine present.

賓夕法尼亞大學的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，只要吸一口，即使完全不含尼古丁，人體內的血管和血液循環(huán)也會立即發(fā)生變化。

"E-cigarettes are advertised as not harmful, and many e-cigarette users are convinced that they are just inhaling water vapour," says radiologist Alessandra Caporale.

放射科醫(yī)生亞歷山德拉·卡波拉說：“電子煙的宣傳是無害的，許多電子煙使用者相信他們只是在吸入水蒸氣。”

"But the solvents, flavourings and additives in the liquid base, after vaporisation, expose users to multiple insults to the respiratory tract and blood vessels."

但液體堿中的溶劑、調味劑和添加劑在蒸發(fā)后，會使使用者受到呼吸道和血管的多重損傷。

E-cigarettes essentially work by converting a liquid base into an aerosol that is easily puffed into your lungs. This liquid usually contains some combination of propylene glycol, glycerol, nicotine, water, flavorings, or preservatives.

電子煙的工作原理是將液態(tài)堿轉化成一種容易被吹進肺部的氣溶膠。這種液體通常含有丙二醇、甘油、尼古丁、水、調味品或防腐劑的某種組合。

To research the health effects of just the vape juice, Caporale and her colleagues examined 31 adults, aged between 19 and 33, who had no history of smoking or overt cardiovascular, respiratory, or neurovascular issues.

為了研究電子煙對健康的影響，Caporale和她的同事對31名年齡在19歲到33歲之間的成年人進行了檢查，這些人沒有吸煙史或明顯的心血管、呼吸或神經血管問題。

Each of these participants was given a vape with a cartridge that contained no nicotine, only a mix of water and propylene glycol or glycerol. Participants were then instructed to take 16 three-second puffs; an MRI was used to examine their blood vessels before and after.

每一個參與者都得到了一個裝有尼古丁的真空聚乙烯，里面沒有尼古丁，只有水和丙二醇或甘油的混合物。然后要求受試者吸16口三秒鐘的煙，并用核磁共振檢查前后的血管。

Focusing on three arteries in the leg, heart, and brain, the researchers noticed a lack of constriction in each one by more than 30 percent. On average, their blood vessels dilated 34 percent less than they did before vaping.

研究人員將注意力集中在腿部、心臟和大腦的三條動脈上，發(fā)現(xiàn)每一條動脈的收縮率都超過30%。平均來說，他們的血管比打氣前擴張了34%。

By cuffing the leg and then releasing it, researchers also noticed a 25 percent reduction in blood acceleration after vaping, and peak blood flow was reduced by 17.5 percent. At the same time, oxygen levels within these vessels also dropped by 20 percent.

研究人員還注意到，在抽完煙后，將腿銬起來然后松開，血液加速速度降低了25%，峰值血流量減少了17.5%。與此同時，這些血管內的氧氣含量也下降了20%。

"We did expect an effect, but we never thought the effect was as big as what we found," radiologist Felix Wehrli told Wired. "It's not just a little change we detect - it's a major effect."

放射學家費利克斯·韋利告訴《連線》雜志:“我們確實預期會有效果，但我們從未想過效果會像我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的那么大。”“這不僅僅是我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個小變化——這是一個重要的影響。”

It's important to note that the sample size here is small. But the findings do suggest that vaping might be damaging to the inner lining of our blood vessels, known as the endothelium.

需要注意的是，這里的樣本量很小。但研究結果確實表明，蒸汽可能會損害我們血管內的內皮細胞。

Endothelial injury is thought to be a key initiating event in the build-up of plaque in our arteries, and even though the vascular inflammation was short-lived and reversible, it suggests there's something more insidious at play. And it has nothing to do with nicotine.

內皮細胞損傷被認為是動脈斑塊形成的一個關鍵起始事件，盡管血管炎癥是短暫的和可逆的，但它表明有一些更隱蔽的因素在起作用。它與尼古丁無關。

"The common belief is that the nicotine is what is toxic, but we have found that dangers exist, independent of nicotine," says Wehrli.

韋赫利說：“人們普遍認為尼古丁是有毒的，但我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，獨立于尼古丁，存在危險。”

"Clearly if there is an effect after a single use of an e-cigarette, then you can imagine what kind of permanent damage could be caused after vaping regularly over years."

“很明顯，如果一次性使用電子煙有效果，那么你可以想象多年來定期吸電子煙會造成什么樣的永久性損害。”

While the ingredients in vape liquid might be harmless to eat, when they are heated, they have the potential to turn toxic. Once inhaled, these toxins could then seep into the bloodstream, potentially leading to vascular inflammation or oxidative stress.

雖然電子煙液體中的成分可能是無害的，但當它們被加熱時，它們有可能變成有毒物質。一旦吸入，這些毒素就會滲入血液，可能導致血管炎癥或氧化應激。

Given that vapes have only been around for some 15 years, it's currently impossible to say what the long-term effects are but even the short term effects have only recently been explored.

考慮到電子煙只存在了大約15年，目前還不可能說出長期效應是什么，但即使是短期效應也只是最近才被研究過。

In 2017, a study on mice found just five minutes of vaping can damage blood vessels, causing stiffness and narrowing. A year later, researchers noticed a loss of endothelial cell function in the blood vessels of those people who vaped. In fact, the harmful effects they found were similar to smoking tobacco cigarettes.

2017年，一項針對老鼠的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，僅僅五分鐘的蒸汽就會損害血管，導致血管僵硬和變窄。一年后，研究人員注意到那些吸電子煙的人的血管內皮細胞功能受損。事實上，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)的有害影響類似于吸煙。

As of this week, over 150 people in the United States have fallen ill with a severe and potentially dangerous lung injury linked to e-cigarette use. Some of these patients had such bad respiratory failure, they were sent to intensive care and put on ventilators.

截至本周，美國已有150多人因使用電子煙而導致嚴重且潛在危險的肺損傷而生病。其中一些病人嚴重呼吸衰竭，他們被送往重癥監(jiān)護室，并使用呼吸機。

The Centres for Disease Control and Infection have now launched an investigation into the cause.

疾病控制和感染中心現(xiàn)在已經對病因展開調查。

Michael Siegel, a health scientist at Boston University who didn't take part in the research, told Live Science that the new study confirms e-cigarettes seem to cause some dysfunction of the blood vessels, although the effect appears to be short-lived.

波士頓大學的健康科學家邁克爾·西格爾(Michael Siegel)沒有參與這項研究，他告訴《生活科學》(Live Science)，這項新的研究證實了電子煙似乎會導致一些血管功能障礙，盡管這種效應似乎是短暫的。

"Further research will be needed to determine whether vaping poses a risk of irreversible blood vessel injury," he said.

他說:“要確定電子煙是否會造成不可逆轉的血管損傷，還需要進一步的研究。”

The findings have been published in Radiology.

研究結果發(fā)表在《放射學》雜志上。