In adolescents, the use of e-cigarettes doubles the risk of starting to smoke traditional cigarettes, states a position paper that focusses on the cardiovascular effects of e-cigarettes.
The study paper also sums up the effects of devices that look like cigarettes and refillable vaporisers that do not look like cigarettes.
The position paper of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC), a branch of the ESC, calls on regulators to protect young people by limiting sales and advertising and banning sweet flavours which teens believe are less harmful.
The paper was published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Research has shown that e-cigarettes raise blood pressure and heart rate, change the artery walls so that they become stiffer and less elastic, and inhibit the function of blood vessels by damaging their lining.
Each of these four effects are risk factors for blood clots and fatty build-up inside artery walls which can cause heart attacks.
A study last year found a link between e-cigarettes and heart attacks.
