University of Texas at San Diego to Study Health Effects of E-Cigarettes

San Francisco, CA – William Cooke and Donovan Fogt, UTSA kinesiologists, have received a $30,000 seed fund from the University to help investigate the health effects of electronic cigarettes. They will be teaming up with Assistant Professor Caroline Rickards at the University of North Texas to help gather data about the effects of e-cigarettes and the body’s basic physiological health.
e-Cigarettes have been around for about six years, and have been marketed as an alternative to smokers who want to decrease their risk of serious health risks of smoking, but still enjoy the effects of nicotine. The devices have been aggressively marketed to make people believe that there are little-to-no side effects of inhaling pure nicotine, but in reality, very little research has been done to study the effects of inhaling vaporized nicotine.
The scholars will be working under the hypothesis that vaporized nicotine “stimulates the human nervous system in ways that could seriously impact daily living”. They believe that the inhalation of pure nicotine has the potential to increase a person’s resting metabolism, making exercise problematic, just as in smoking traditional cigarettes. They also are hypothesizing that e-cigarettes will prevent the cardiovascular system from properly system from properly regulating arterial pressure.
If the hypothesis is correct, additional research will be needed to help understand the immediate effects of vaporized nicotine, as well as the impact of dosage in each device, and age on the e-cigarette user’s health.
http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/university-of-texas-at-san-diego-to-study-health-effects-of-e-cigarettes-292135.htm