MEDFORD, Ore. – Everyone knows how detrimental smoking is to heart health, but what about vaping? NBC5 News spoke with Dr. Mona McArdle, the chief medical officer at valley immediate care. Dr. McArdle says nicotine has many effects on heart health, which include a rise in heart rate and blood pressure, and even the damaging of heart vessels over time.
“Vaping -you’re burning a liquid and it puts nicotine into your bloodstream by inhaling the nicotine. and for most of the heart effects, it’s the nicotine that’s directly altering what the heart does,” Dr. McArdle says.
It’s not just the nicotine you need to worry about, Dr. McArdle says your vape may be cut with additional chemicals that lead to lung problems and may make your heart work overtime as a result.
“Specifically for vaping, you have the nicotine, which we do know a fair amount about, but there’s also all these other chemicals in the vape material that are not just pure nicotine, so it’s not just a nicotine delivery device,” says Dr. McArdle.
Although McArdle says that although vaping may be less harmful than cigarettes, sweet-flavored vapes attract children who perhaps otherwise wouldn’t have been exposed to the addictive effects of nicotine. Since e-cigarettes are relatively new, we will have to wait to see studies on lifelong effects.
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