Peripheral haemodynamic effects of smoking in habitual smokers. A methodological study

The effect of smoking on forearm haemodynamics was studied in four groups of healthy subjects, who had all smoked cigarettes (10-15 cigarettes/day) on average for 10 years. Changes in heart rate, blood pressure, forearm blood flow, forearm vascular resistance and pulse wave velocity were determined before and every 15 min for 75 min after smoking two cigarettes within 10 min. The inhaled nicotine was about 2.2 mg. There was no significant difference between the four groups in any haemodynamic variable before or after smoking, which indicated adequate reproducibility of the parameters studied and so made it possible to pool the results from all 30 subjects. Smoking significantly increased blood pressure, heart rate and pulse wave velocity and decreased forearm blood flow. Forearm vascular resistance remained unchanged. The rises in systolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity were transient and both peaked (7% and 28%, respectively) 15 min after smoking. In contrast, heart rate and diastolic blood pressure remained significantly elevated and forearm blood flow was significantly decreased throughout the 75 min follow-up. The maximal changes were: heart rate +34%, diastolic blood pressure +17%, and forearm blood flow -24%. It is concluded that smoking produces statistically significant changes in forearm haemodynamics affecting both small and large arteries. The reproducibility of the study design means that it can be used to evaluate substances which may antagonize the haemodynamic effects of tobacco smoking.