Effect of age on blood pressure response to cigarette smoking.

The plasma nicotine level and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated after cigarette smoking in young (group I, 17 men) and middle-aged habitual smokers (group II, 17 men). The amount of increase in plasma nicotine concentration after smoking was related to the percent change of mean blood pressure in both groups. The total peripheral vascular resistance index (TPRI) increased significantly at 10 min after smoking and reduced thereafter in group I, whereas the TPRI increased till 30 min after in group II. Thus, smoking raised the TPRI for a longer time in the middle-aged subjects due to a decrease in aortic elasticity with aging.