Does Vaping Really Cause Heart Disease?

In 2019-2020, many news sites claimed that vaping was the cause of heart disease. In Vietnam alone, most hospitals supported the idea that nicotine and chemicals in vaping have an even higher risk of causing heart disease than traditional cigarettes.

Indeed, we still underestimate this issue when we only compare vaping with cigarettes through lung diseases. Recently, I have heard some vapers in the community still discussing: "Maybe vaping does not cause cancer, but what if vaping still causes cardiovascular problems?".

So does vaping really cause heart problems, or is it all just a myth?

What are the "chemicals" in vape vapor and what are their effects on the body?

The e-liquid, or the “medicine” part of an e-cigarette, consists of only four main ingredients: VG (vegetable glycerin / glycerol), PG (propylene glycol), nicotine, and flavor. Three of the four ingredients have been proven to be safe for human health. In fact, VG, PG, and flavor make up more than 95% of the volume of the juice and have been used for decades in the cosmetic, medical, and of course food industries.

So what about the last ingredient, nicotine, does it have a negative impact on the cardiovascular system? Nicotine is said to increase blood flow and blood pressure. In moderate doses, it helps users relieve stress and limit drowsiness and loss of concentration. Of course, using too much of anything is not good and nicotine is no exception. Taking too much nicotine can lead to typical symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning such as chest pain, feeling short of breath or intercostal nerve pain. The symptoms are rarely severe and will gradually decrease and disappear after only 30 minutes to 2 hours of stopping nicotine intake.

Vape and cardiovascular disease

The health risks of long-term vaping are 95% lower than those of smoking. The chemicals in the essential oils are vaporized, using just enough heat and air to turn the essential oils from liquid to vapor without burning. That’s why vape “smoke” contains much fewer chemicals than cigarette smoke.

Although vape vapor is not completely harmless, if we compare vape and cigarette in terms of the potential to cause cardiovascular diseases, vape has the potential to reduce risks and is safer for users. Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 toxic chemicals (collectively called tar). These substances put users at risk of conditions such as atherosclerosis, causing scar tissue inside the blood vessel walls. Especially CO gas because red blood cells will prioritize absorbing this gas instead of Oxygen, causing the heart to work harder than normal to have enough oxygen to sustain life. All of these make the smoker's cardiovascular system more fragile, and combined with nicotine, increase blood pressure, leading many people to mistakenly believe that nicotine is the cause of heart failure and stroke.

Vape is different, because it does not use combustion, there is no tar in vape vapor. Except for nicotine, other toxic substances that directly cause illness to users are not present in vape vapor.

In fact, there was a case where the American Heart Association, a large and prestigious medical organization, after publishing an article about the possibility of vaping causing myocardial infarction, had to retract it and admit mistakes in the research results. However, it is also necessary to remember that the substances used as essential oils in electronic cigarettes are only temporarily considered safe when not mixed with impurities. Every vaper needs to be equipped with correct and complete knowledge about vaping, because vaping can still be completely harmful to users if used incorrectly/for the wrong purpose, as many cases have been reported in the press recently. The most recent case was the case of an elderly man in Tuyen Quang (5) who was poisoned after smoking an electronic cigarette containing drugs. Sophisticated tricks still exist around us, so we need to be very careful.

Conclude

As the number of vape users is increasing, especially in the 25-35 age group, the main labor force of society, it is understandable that concerns related to health issues surrounding vaping receive a lot of attention.

In general, the benefits that vape brings are not really understood by the vape user community in particular and society in general in the most objective and correct way. It can be said that in order for this product line to stand in the position it deserves, more than ever, we need a community, even if it is small, but equipped with full knowledge to not only understand vape correctly but also to use vape civilly, gradually making the image of vape users more beautiful. Let's start with the vape community that can be called the most elite at present: Vape Vietnam.

Stay safe, vape on!

Credit: Vape Vietnam