You may have heard that vaping is the safer alternative to smoking, but emerging evidence suggests this may be a dangerous assumption. As e-cigarette use becomes more common across the UK, researchers are uncovering concerning links between vaping and cardiovascular damage that could be replacing one heart risk with another.
The Inequality of Heart Disease Risk
Vaping doesn't exist in isolation but is part of a broader story about smoking, inequality and the growing burden of heart disease in the UK. Despite years of public health campaigns, smoking remains disproportionately common in England's most deprived areas.
The reasons are complex. People experiencing financial strain, job insecurity and chronic stress are more likely to smoke. Targeted marketing and limited access to stop-smoking services create additional barriers to quitting. Compounding this problem, one in two UK adults has high cholesterol, with many unaware of their condition.
Reports consistently show that people in the poorest communities face the highest rates of smoking and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, including elevated cholesterol levels. As vaping gains popularity in these same communities, a new form of nicotine use could be substituting one heart risk for another.
How Vaping Damages Your Arteries
While research confirms that vaping can help some people quit smoking more effectively than other methods, newer findings challenge the belief that e-cigarettes are a harmless substitute. Several studies have now connected vaping to arterial damage in both the brain and heart, even among people who have never smoked traditional cigarettes.
The cells lining our blood vessels, known as the endothelium, perform the crucial work of keeping arteries supple, regulating blood pressure and preventing fatty deposits from sticking to vessel walls. When these cells become damaged, arteries lose elasticity and blood flow becomes less efficient, significantly raising cardiovascular risks.
One study found that regular vapers developed impaired blood vessel function, with arteries that could no longer expand and contract properly. Additional research on humans and animals exposed to vapour showed less flexible arteries, higher blood pressure and damaged endothelium in both the brain and heart. This arterial stiffening increases the likelihood of heart attack, stroke and dementia.
The Hidden Dangers for Young Vapers
The mechanism behind this damage is becoming clearer. When someone vapes, the vapour delivers nicotine, chemicals and microscopic particles directly into the bloodstream. These substances trigger inflammation and oxidative stress, causing the body's defences to attack healthy tissue.
Vaping also reduces nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood vessels relax, while increasing harmful free radicals. Combined, these effects make arteries less functional and more disease-prone. Vaping can raise blood pressure and heart rate even after a single session, and over time, this constant irritation, inflammation and stress wears down arterial health.
The UK's NHS Health Check programme mainly screens people aged forty and over for heart disease risks. Yet vaping is most common among people under 40, and routine screening isn't designed to detect early vessel injury in this younger age group. Young vapers may carry silent artery damage for years before problems appear on standard tests, with evidence suggesting vaping can cause early artery changes similar to smoking, increasing cardiovascular disease risk later in life.
This underscores why education and prevention are critically important. Schools and public health campaigns play a vital role in showing young people that vaping carries long-term cardiac risks. Programmes combining classroom learning with interactive activities have demonstrated real effectiveness. Initiatives like Catch Your Breath and Essex's Break the Vape aim to prevent youth vaping and support those wanting to quit, reducing future heart disease risk.
The wide disparities in heart disease deaths across England indicate that prevention efforts still aren't reaching everyone equally. A comprehensive approach to cardiovascular disease prevention is essential, requiring schools, councils, NHS services and local communities to collaborate on tackling shared risk factors like smoking and vaping.
While screening cannot yet detect early artery damage in younger adults, education remains our strongest defence. Helping young people understand how vaping affects heart health can protect the next generation from the hidden dangers of nicotine addiction and cardiovascular harm.
