The first electronic cigarette was invented by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik as a less harmful alternative to regular cigarettes. The logic of this invention can be understood – instead of carcinogenic smoke, rich in various resins, a person inhales steam with nicotine. In fact, smoking e-cigarettes is inhalation. However, recently more and more evidence has begun to emerge that vaping is not as harmless as originally thought. A recent study showed that they are the cause of a deadly disease.
Electronic cigarettes cause a deadly disease
Why vaping is dangerous to health
Scientists have long begun to suspect that vapes are actually not as safe as originally thought. This became especially obvious in the summer of 2019, when an outbreak of a mysterious disease hit America. According to official data, almost 3,000 people were hospitalized at the time, of whom 68 died. The exact cause of this disease is unknown, but it is most likely caused by a chemical found in vapes. It affects the lung tissue, causing a person to cough and choke.
Since then, scientists have begun to pay more attention to the harm from the newfangled habit. Subsequently, it was possible to find evidence that e-cigarettes increase the risk of respiratory diseases, as well as heart attacks and strokes. Additionally, vapes have been found to be as harmful as cigarettes in some aspects. For example, smoking cigarettes and vaping negatively affects vision. However, a new study has revealed even more terrifying facts – e-cigarettes cause heart failure.
Study finds that vaping causes heart failure even in healthy people
Vaping causes cardiovascular failure
If a stroke and heart attack causes an instant attack, which often ends in death, then cardiovascular failure develops slowly. That is, the heart muscle slowly weakens, so much so that it becomes difficult for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. This is a life-threatening condition that also often leads to death.
In their study, scientists analyzed the medical records of more than 175 thousand American adults who participated in one of the research programs of the US National Institutes of Health. Of these, almost 30 thousand people reported that they had ever vaped. Among these people, more than 3,000 experienced heart failure within four years.
Compared with people who had never vaped, e-cigarette users had a 19 percent increased risk of developing heart failure. Moreover, such people develop a special type of disease in which the heart muscle becomes tense and does not fill with blood properly. Researchers report this in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Electronic cigarettes destroy the cardiovascular system
Those who smoked both regular cigarettes and vapes had an even higher risk of heart failure. For such people, this figure increases to 59 percent. Of the participants, approximately 60 percent were women, with an average age of 52.
To get accurate results, the scientists excluded people with a predisposition to heart failure, as well as those who had it at first. Risk factors for heart failure include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.
Smoking vapes along with cigarettes increases the risk of heart failure by more than 80%
However, the researchers did not ask how often participants vaped or what ingredients were present in them. In particular, it is not known whether all e-cigarettes are dangerous for the heart or only those that contain nicotine. Let's remember that according to some studies, vapes without nicotine turned out to be just as harmful to health as nicotine ones. Obviously, more research is needed to show which substance leads to heart disease.
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But, in any case, if you smoke vapes, it is better to give them up, and the sooner the better. In addition, their effectiveness as a means of helping to quit smoking has not been proven. Moreover, they themselves are highly addictive.