St. Elizabeth Healthy Headlines: Vaping IS smoking — and is a public health emergency

Vaping (using e-cigarettes) is actually no safer than smoking. It’s a public health emergency that affects more than your lungs. Vaping also significantly increases your risk for heart and vascular disease.

So, if you’re vaping, it’s time to ditch e-cigarettes. Here’s what you need to know.

What Is a Vaping Device (E-cigarette)?

A standard e-cigarette device holds a cartridge with approximately 2 milliliters of vaping liquid. You can easily hide or disguise these devices to look like an everyday item. They contain a variety of flammable liquids, including up to 40 milligrams of nicotine. Although scientists have studied nicotine, they haven’t investigated most other substances in e-cigarettes. So, their impact on your body is unknown.

On average, the nicotine in one e-cigarette cartridge equals the amount in a pack or two of regular cigarettes. Depending on how often you take a puff, you could smoke the equivalent of a whole pack in an hour. That’s particularly dangerous because, unlike cigarette smoke, e-cigarette vapor absorbs directly into the bloodstream. So, your heart and blood vessels feel the effects instantly.

Increased Heart Disease Risk

According to St. Elizabeth Healthcare cardiologist Damodhar Suresh, MD, vaping increases the likelihood that you’ll develop coronary artery disease.

“Nicotine is the most powerful vasoconstricting agent ever studied,” he says. “That means, each time you vape, your arteries get smaller and smaller to the point where they are so diseased, you’re going to have a heart attack or stroke.”

The research shows vaping raises your chances for heart and vascular problems drastically. According to the American College of Cardiology, if you vape, you’re 56% more likely to have a heart attack and 30% more likely to have a stroke . E-cigarettes also raise your heart rate, cause an irregular heartbeat and lead to plaque buildup in your arteries.

Faster Disease Development

It’s well-known that smoking harms your heart. But it usually takes years for these problems to develop. However, vaping may cause cardiovascular effects much faster.

Your bloodstream absorbs e-cigarette vaper immediately, so your liver never gets a chance to remove the toxins. That means there’s no delay in how the vaping liquid impacts your heart, Dr. Suresh says. Long-term research is currently underway, but the more direct impact on your heart and blood vessels from vaping could lead to widespread early-onset cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular Dangers for Teens

The dangers for teens who vape may be the highest. While cigarette smoking is down among teens, many have turned to vaping as an alternative. According to the FDA, as of 2023, 1.56 million high school students and 550,000 middle school students reported using e-cigarettes . Roughly 25% of the group vape daily.

“The addictive nature of vaping is much more intense because the substances in the vapor go directly into the bloodstream and to the brain,” Dr. Suresh says. “No one has studied the long-term effects of the adolescent brain addicted to nicotine. No one knows yet what the impact on their brains will be like when they’re older at 23 or 33.”

The unknowns include the long-lasting cardiovascular impact, he says. Social pressures around vaping could create a generation of young people who develop cardiovascular disease earlier in life. Concerning conditions include high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and high levels of inflammation that hurt the heart.

Ultimately, he says, the most important thing to remember is vaping is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.

“Vaping is smoking,” Dr. Suresh said. “Say it three times and remember it every time you think about inhaling these substances.”

Learn more about vaping here.

The post St. Elizabeth Healthy Headlines: Vaping IS smoking — and is a public health emergency appeared first on NKyTribune .