by Preeti Mahato, Anusha Seneviratne,The Conversation

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

You may have heard that vaping is the "safer" choice than smoking. But what if the very thing designed to protect your health also puts your heart at risk?

Vaping does not exist in isolation. It is part of a wider story about smoking, inequality and the growing burden ofheartdisease in the UK. Even after years ofpublic health campaigns,smokingremains common in England's mostdeprivedareas.

Thereasons are complex. People living with financial strain, insecure jobs andchronic stressaremore likely to smoke.Targeted marketingand limited access to stop-smoking services make it even harder to quit. At the same time,one in two UK adults have high cholesterol, and many do not know it.

Reportsshow that people in the poorest communities have thehighest rates of smokingand otherrisk factorsforcardiovascular disease, including raisedcholesterol.

Asvapingbecomes more common in these same communities, a new form of nicotine use could be replacing one heart risk with another. Many people now switch from cigarettes to vapes to reduce harm, but growing evidence suggests the benefits may not be as clear-cut as once thought.

Researchshows that vaping can help some people quit smoking more effectively than other methods, butnewer findingschallenge the belief that e-cigarettes are a harmless substitute.

Several studies have now linkedvaping to arterial damagein both the brain and heart, even among people who have never smoked traditional cigarettes. The cells that line ourblood vessels, known as the endothelium, keep arteries supple, regulate blood pressure and stop fatty deposits from sticking to the walls. When these cells are damaged, arteries lose elasticity andblood flowbecomes less efficient, raising the risk of cardiovascular problems.

One study found that regular vapers hadimpaired blood vessel function. Their arteries could no longer expand and contract properly. Other research on humans and animals exposed to vapor showed less flexible arteries, higher blood pressure and damaged endothelium in both the brain and heart. Thisarterial stiffeningincreases the likelihood of heart attack, stroke and dementia.

So what is behind this damage? When someone vapes, the vapor carries nicotine, chemicals and microscopic particles into the bloodstream. These triggerinflammation and oxidative stress, meaning the body's defenses go into overdrive and start attacking healthy tissue. Vaping also reducesnitric oxide, a molecule that helps vessels relax, while increasing harmful free radicals. Together, these effects make arteries less able to do their job and more prone to disease, increasing the risk of heart problems.

Vaping can also raiseblood pressureand heart rate, evenafter a single session. Over time, this mix of irritation, inflammation and stress wears down the arteries, even in people who have never smoked before.

The UK's NHS Health Checkprogram mainly screens people aged forty and over for heart-disease risks. Yet vaping is most common among people under 40, and routine screening is not designed to detect early vessel injury in this age group. Young vapers may therefore carry silent artery damage for years before any problem appears on standard tests. Evidence suggests that vaping can cause early artery changes similar to those caused by smoking, increasing the risk ofcardiovascular disease(CVD) later in life.

That is why education and prevention are so important. Schools and public health campaigns play a vital role in showing young people that vaping carries long-term risks, including damage to the heart. Programs that combine classroom learning with interactive activities have been shown to make a real difference. Initiatives such asCatch Your Breathand Essex'sBreak the Vapeaim to stop young people from vaping before they start, and to support those who want to quit, reducing their future risk of heart disease.

The wide differences in heart disease deaths across England show that prevention efforts are still not reaching everyone equally. A whole-systemapproach to CVD preventionis essential. Schools, councils, NHS services and local communities need to work together to tackle shared risk factors such as smoking and vaping.

Screening cannot yet detect early artery damage in younger adults, but education remains our best defense. Helping young people understand how vaping affects the heart can protect the next generation from the hidden dangers of nicotine addiction and cardiovascular harm.

This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.

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