Vaping has been becoming more and more popular since it was introduced to society. At first sight, it looks a long way from smoking: no obnoxious smell, and the overall image is certainly more pleasing. But while vaping looks more attractive and socially acceptable, it is not innocuous at all.
Why does one take up vaping? For some it is an attempt to give up smoking; there are those who just want to appear hip. Were they aware when they started that the habit might be unhealthy? As emerges from recent research, habitual use of e-cigarettes and suchlike vaping devices may put on more pressure on the heart and enhance the risk of developing heart diseases including heart attacks. At the 68th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, it was suggested that vaping could be safer compared with smoking healthwise, yet it’s infinitely more preferable not to smoke or vape at all.
Following that, Mohinder Vindhyal, the author of the study and assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine Wichita, commented that “safer” can be taken by many as “good to use,” whereas what they really want is to be safe.
The study embraced almost 100,000 people participants of the National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) over three years in the 2010s. They were examined by experts from the Centers for Disease Control on all kinds of health issues, and the results revealed that those going for e-cigarettes are more vulnerable to heart attacks by 56% and to strokes by 30% in comparison with non-vapers.
People who are fond of vaping are also susceptible to developing blood clots and having coronary artery problems. After other cardiovascular risks were eliminated (excessive weight and high cholesterol), it turned out they were of little influence, and the association was still strongly pronounced. Besides, those who were in the habit of vaping regularly had more chances to end up with heart disease or even a heart attack than those who did it but rarely.
Needless to say, heart complications run high with regular smokers. According to the study heavy smokers’ chance of a heart attack runs higher by 165% than that of non-smokers. As for users of e-cigarettes, conclusive comparative results about health risks are yet to come.
