VAPING can damage your heart even if you have never smoked cigarettes, according to a study.
Around five million Brits use e-cigs and health chiefs say they are a safer alternative to tobacco but the long-term health risks are unknown.
Data from 176,000 adults in the USA now shows vapers are 19 per cent more likely to develop heart failure than the average person.
The condition stiffens the heart over time until it stops working and affects about a million people in the UK.
Study author Dr Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, from MedStar Health in Baltimore, Maryland, said medics do not yet fully understand why vaping appears to stiffen the heart.
Nicotine increases heart rate and blood pressure which is known to damage veins and arteries over time.
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The research found 3,242 people developed heart failure out of a group of 175,667 – and patients were a fifth more likely to have used e-cigarettes.
The same effect was true regardless of someone’s age, general health and smoking history.
Dr Bene-Alhasan said: ““The difference we saw was substantial.
“More and more studies are linking e-cigarettes to harmful effects and finding that it might not be as safe as previously thought
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“I think this research is long overdue, especially considering how much e-cigarettes have gained traction.
“We don’t want to wait too long to find out they might be harmful, and find that by that time a lot of harm has already been done.
“With more research, we will uncover more about the potential health consequences and improve the information for the public.”
For comparison, a 2022 study by Johns Hopkins University found smoking tobacco raises heart failure risk by about 10 times as much – around a 120 per cent increase.
Dr Bene-Alhasan will present his study at the American College of Cardiology conference.
It comes as UK ministers plan to crack down on vaping by banning single-use e-cigarettes and toughening laws on flavours and packaging.
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FROM how vaping can harm your health to what quitting the devices does to your body and novel ways to kick the habit, read more of Sun Health’s coverage on vaping.
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Sam Blanchard
