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Vaping and Heart Disease: What the Research Shows

By Know Your Vape · · Updated

Contents

The Popularity of Vaping and Its Impact on Health

Vaping causes short-term changes in the heart and blood vessels, such as a faster heart rate. Whether it causes heart disease over the long run has not been proven, because long-term studies are still lacking.

What is clear: vaping is not safe, and it is not for non-smokers, anyone under 21, or pregnant people. For adults who smoke, switching completely is expected to be less harmful than continuing to smoke.

If you want to read about other vaping health concerns, such as lung effects, cancer risk, and addiction, explore our other articles on KnowYourVape.com.

What is Vaping?

Vaping means inhaling the aerosol made by an electronic cigarette or similar device.

A vape has a battery, a heating element (atomizer or coil), and a tank, cartridge, or pod filled with e-liquid. The battery powers the coil, which heats the liquid into an aerosol that you inhale.

E-liquids usually contain propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, flavorings, and nicotine. Nicotine-free liquids exist, but most vapes sold contain nicotine.

Devices range from small pod systems to larger box mods with adjustable settings.

Health Risks of Vaping

There is no proven link between vaping and heart attacks or strokes yet. The National Academies found no available evidence on clinical heart outcomes from e-cigarettes in its 2018 review.

That doesn't mean vaping is harmless to the heart. It means the research needed to measure long-term risk has not been completed.

Impact of vaping on cardiovascular health

Nicotine triggers the release of adrenaline (epinephrine), which raises heart rate and blood pressure. NIDA explains how nicotine affects the body, including these heart effects.

Vape aerosol can also contain chemicals such as formaldehyde and acrolein, plus ultrafine particles and metals. These can cause oxidative stress, a type of cell damage linked to heart disease, though vaping produces less of it than smoking.

Research and studies on vaping and heart disease

The 2018 National Academies review of e-cigarette evidence graded the heart research by strength:

  • Substantial evidence: heart rate rises shortly after nicotine intake, and vaping causes short-term problems with how blood vessels relax (endothelial dysfunction).
  • Moderate evidence: diastolic blood pressure rises shortly after nicotine intake.
  • Limited evidence: short-term rises in systolic blood pressure and stiffer arteries.
  • Insufficient evidence: long-term changes in heart rate, blood pressure, or heart function.
  • No available evidence: whether vaping causes heart disease or stroke.

The same review found substantial evidence that adults who switch completely from cigarettes see fewer short-term harms in several organ systems.

For more information on the dangers of vaping and its impact on various aspects of health, visit Know Your Vape.

Mechanisms of Harm

Researchers point to two main ways vaping could affect the heart and blood vessels.

Nicotine enters the bloodstream and acts as a stimulant. It raises heart rate and blood pressure, which makes the heart work harder for a short time after each use.

Other chemicals in the aerosol, such as formaldehyde, acrolein, volatile organic compounds, and metals, can cause oxidative stress and affect the lining of blood vessels.

Whether these short-term effects add up to heart disease over years of use is still unknown. Vaping is relatively new, so long-term data is limited.

To learn more about the risks of vaping and its negative effects on various aspects of health, visit Know Your Vape.

Vaping Regulations and Recommendations

Current regulations on vaping products

In the US, e-cigarettes are regulated by the FDA as tobacco products. Key rules include:

  1. Age restrictions: Federal Tobacco 21 law, in effect since December 2019, bans selling e-cigarettes and e-liquids to anyone under 21.
  2. Premarket review: A vape must pass FDA premarket review before it can be legally sold. The FDA keeps a searchable list of authorized products.
  3. No quit-aid approval: No e-cigarette is FDA-approved as a quit-smoking aid. Products marketed to help people quit are regulated as drugs.

Recommendations for reducing the risk of heart disease

These steps follow guidance from the CDC, FDA, and NHS:

  1. Don't start vaping if you don't smoke: Vaping only adds risk for non-smokers. This is especially true for people with heart conditions.
  2. If you smoke, quit or switch completely: Vaping exposes you to fewer harmful chemicals than smoking. Using both is not effective and may increase your exposure, so switching only helps if you stop smoking entirely.
  3. Aim to quit nicotine eventually: The healthiest option is to stop vaping too. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for free help.
  4. Talk to a healthcare professional: If you have heart disease or high blood pressure, ask your doctor about the safest way to quit nicotine.

For more information on the risks of vaping and its impact on heart health, you can visit KnowYourVape.

Conclusion

The need for awareness and further research on vaping and heart disease

Nicotine from vaping raises heart rate and blood pressure in the short term, and aerosol chemicals can stress blood vessels. Those are real effects worth taking seriously.

What science can't say yet is whether vaping causes heart disease over the long term. Larger and longer studies are needed.

For adults who smoke, switching completely is likely less harmful to the heart than smoking. For everyone else, the safest choice is not to vape.

Sources

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