Vaping is a world phenomenon. It came about to help sway daily cigarette smokers away from squares. It was thought to be a safe alternative when Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik went about developing the modern electronic cigarettes in 2003 after losing his father to lung cancer. But study’s show that it’s not so “safe” after all, especially for your heart’s health.
The American Heart Association’s peer-reviewed journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology publishing 2 new studies; on humans and rats, looking into how vaping affects both blood vessels and overall heart health.
Both studies find that inhaling foreign substances in general causes adverse effects.
“Thousands of chemicals have been identified in tobacco smoke, some of which are also present in e-cigarette aerosols, either as an original ingredient or as a chemical reaction product of the heating process,” University of San Francisco cardiology researcher and professor who led both studies Dr. Matthew L. Springer , says in a statement by the AHA. “We sought to find which specific component of smoke or e-cigarette vapor may be responsible for interfering with blood vessels’ ability to function efficiently.”
Rat-based study
Rats were exposed to 4 types of cigarette smoke and 2 types of e-cig gases and carbon nanoparticles. The study shows that the latter had similar impact to that of cigarette smoke “despite representing completely different chemical and physical components of smoke.”
Basically, even though cigarette smoke and e-cig vapor are made up of different chemicals, they did similar damage to the rats’ blood vessel.
Human-based study
The second study involved 120 adults, aged 21-50. They were divided into 3 divisions; smokers, vapers or neither. It was found that the smokers and vapers had “measurable changes” in inflammatory markers.
Vapers had “leaky blood vessels” and “higher oxidative stress.” Smokers had “elevated inflammatory markers.” They both had weakened endothelial cells.
