Detrimental Effects of Electronic Cigarette on Cardiomyopathy in Military Personnel
Abstract
Electronic cigarette use has rapidly proliferated worldwide, while there is a lack of both human and animal studies on the effects of e-cigarettes on the heart. While the rate of smoking among military Service members has dramatically declined in recent years and is lower (7.4%) than the general civilian population at large (12.9%), e-cigarette use among military personnel has increased. In 2015, 11.1% of Service members were daily e-cigarette users, and 12.4% had vaped within the last month. Thus, studies need to be performed to determine if electronic cigarettes are safe, especially on the heart. Military personnel, like the general population, suffer from two distinct, but often overlapping cardiac conditions: (1) cardiomyopathy, also called heart failure (formerly called congestive heart failure), which is a group of diseases in which the cardiac muscle is effected leading to decreased cardiac output, and (2) cardiovascular disease (CVD), also called atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease (CAD), where atherosclerotic lesions build up in the coronary arteries eventually causing blockage of one or more coronary artery and a heart attack. These conditions occur more in people who smoke cigarettes. One of the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program topic areas is cardiomyopathy. In this grant, we will determine if mice receiving e-cigarettes develop cardiomyopathy and if so, how does this occur. We developed a mouse e-cigarettes exposure system that gives mice e-cigarette vapors to mice so that their blood nicotine levels are equivalent to that in human e-cigarettes users. We will use this unique delivery system to study if e-cigarettes are just as detrimental as conventional cigarettes on cardiac outcomes. We expect to show that e-cigarettes, although believed to be safe, have detrimental cardiac effects of concern to military personnel. These experiments will shed light on the cardiac harm of e-cigarettes and provide information to allow military personnel as well as military administration to make informed decisions about e-cigarette use and policy. It may also inform the military about allowing e-cigarettes to be sold in military exchanges.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2010586
Entities
People
- Kenneth Roos
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of California, Los Angeles