Just 10 puffs on an e-cig is enough to increase your risk of heart disease, according to researchers

RESEARCH has suggested that e-cigarettes - supposedly a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes - can increase your risk of heart disease after just a few puffs.

Also known as vapes, e-cigarettes are smoked by almost three million Brits, with many smokers relying on the electronic fags to help them kick their smoking habit.

However, worrying evidence is mounting that vaping isn't as safe as many people were led to believe, after a number of controversial studies pointed to the risks of smoking e-cigs.

The latest, published by scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, suggests that just ten puffs on a vape can be enough to increase the risk of developing heart disease.

reports that the electronic fags can trigger physiological changes that "start the heart disease ball rolling", according to one expert.

Other studies have warned of further risks, including one which pointed to long-term health damage for e-smokers even if they don't lead to tobacco use.

Further research has suggested that e-cigs can actually make it harder to quit smoking, or even serve as a gateway leading to non-smokers being introduced to real fags.

And now there is also evidence to suggest that e-cigs can prompt similar responses in the body to real cigarettes, including a hardening of the arteries and increased blood pressure.

In spite of this, many health bodies still view vaping as a safer alternative to real fags, with Public Health England saying the devices are "around 95 per cent less harmful than smoking."

But this new study casts doubt on the organisation's optimism, after Swedish researchers studied the response of 16 occasional cigarette smokers and gave them ten puffs on an e-cig.

Published in the journal Atherosclerosis, the research revealed that it took just one hour for cells to start showing signs of damage normally associated with smoking regular cigarettes.

According to researchers, the cell damage was "of the same magnitude as smoking one traditional cigarette."

The paper adds that the "very short exposure to e-cigarette vapour… may indicate an impact on vascular integrity leading to future atherosclerosis", the medical term for hardening of the arteries.

It took 24 hours for indicators of cell health to return to normal levels.

Whilst most e-cig advocates rubbish claims that vaping is anywhere near as dangerous as smoking, there is doubt as to just how safe e-cigs are.

Professor Joep Perk, a heart specialist and spokesman for the European Society of Cardiology, told the Daily Mail: "It really surprises me that so little vapour from an e-cigarette is needed to start the heart disease ball rolling.

"It's worrying that one e-cigarette can trigger such a response."