Vaping’s Effects on Health: How It Affects Your System
Breathing anything into your lungs (unless it’s medicine) is not good for your health. Many people do vape, thinking it’s a healthy alternative to smoking cigarettes. While it is a healthier alternative, you are still breathing in some chemicals that you should not.
Vaping drastically reduces all health risks of smoking but does not eliminate them. For this reason, health experts always advise non-smokers not to start smoking vape pens or e-cigarettes. Its effects on your health are less well-known than traditional cigarette smoking. But can it be just as detrimental to your physical and mental wellbeing?
The Effects of Vaping on Physical and Mental Conditions
When you vape, you actually inhale an aerosol created by heated nicotine, flavors, and a handful of other chemicals. The number is almost nothing compared to smoking a traditional cigarette, which contains around 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic and highly detrimental to your health. But a vape pen still contains nicotine and a few other harmful chemicals, though to a much lesser extent.
Are you looking for a healthier alternative to smoking? If so, vaping might be the answer! However, before you go out and buy your first vape starter kit, it’s best to know what exactly the effects of vaping are on your health.
Vaping has been around for quite some time now, with many people switching from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes in hopes that they can improve their health by not inhaling all of those chemicals found in tobacco smoke. With so much conflicting information being released about this topic, we have decided to provide you with several ways that vaping may affect your body.
Chronic coughing
Vapers have been known to experience dry throats and other respiratory problems. This is mainly due to the propylene glycol (PG) and other chemicals in e-liquids like vegetable glycerin (VG). PG can cause dryness and irritation in the throat, including coughs, while VG has natural sugars that may leave the user with lung inflammation. Regular vaping could lead to a chronic cough and make the user susceptible to other respiratory diseases.
Bad breath and stained teeth
The e-liquids used in vape pens contain chemicals like propylene glycol, which has a sweet taste to it but also leaves behind a bitter aftertaste. These chemicals can also lead to affecting your teeth over time. Bad breath and stained teeth are the two major side-effects, especially if the user decides to use these products more than once or twice per day.
Gum diseases and tooth decay
Vaping exposes the mouth to addictive and carcinogenic substances like nicotine and hot chemical vapor. This makes the gums susceptible to various diseases and tooth decay while reducing blood supply.
Vaping also creates a breeding ground for plaque bacteria by drying the mouth, making the gum more vulnerable to infection. If you smoke a flavored vape, the sugar in it will trigger the plaque bacteria to release acid. It will erode the tooth’s enamel and create cavities.
Heart issues
Cigarette smoking has been linked to several health issues, including chest pain and shortness of breath. It makes sense then that vaping would cause similar health problems, since it contains some of the same dangerous chemicals found in traditional cigarettes, such as formaldehyde. This chemical is also a human carcinogen.
Vaping may increase the user’s risk of cardiovascular disease due to nicotine’s stimulation of adrenaline production, which can lead to an increased heart rate. Nicotine is also known for restricting blood vessels in your lungs and other areas of the body, which can cause a decrease in oxygen flow throughout your circulatory system.
Sleep disruption
Nicotine is an addictive stimulant that has been found to affect sleep patterns by increasing the adrenaline level that kicks off an intense feeling of alertness, which can make it difficult to fall asleep after vaping. Also, the chemicals in the e-liquid prevent deep sleep, the sleeping stage where the muscle tissue regenerates and the body restores.
Depression and anxiety
Nicotine may lead to an increase in depressive symptoms. It creates an obstruction to the cerebral dopamine pathway. As dopamine plays a part in how we feel pleasure, its interrupted transmission to the nerve cells will worsen the condition of people who are already depressed.
Also, you may develop a nicotine addiction by smoking e-liquids with a high concentration of nicotine. It will lead you to smoke more, potentially worsening your existing mental health conditions, such as anxiety.
Memory issues
The electronic cigarette, or “vape”, is a popular alternative to traditional cigarettes. However, despite their popularity, they are filled with nicotine, which is highly addictive and slows brain development. Since the development of the brain’s neural pathways is a gradual process, vaping from a young age can cause problems with remembering, concentration, and other cognitive processes.
Visual issues
Smoking has long been the leading cause of diseases that impair vision. The nicotine in it is the main culprit. It can trigger diabetic retinopathy, dry eyes, age-related eye problems, and various other issues.
People with diabetic retinopathy can suffer vision loss because of breaking down or blockage of retinal blood vessels.
Is Vaping Sill Safe? The Verdict
Vaping may not be as safe as many people may think. While it does not contain the same dangerous chemicals found in traditional cigarettes, you still suffer health risks when used for extended periods.
You should be wary of modified e-liquids that contain a high level of nicotine and other unregulated chemicals. Such black market mod liquids may have even worse effects on teens and young adults.
Also, non-smokers should not start vaping out of curiosity. There are no studies that prove vaping is healthy for you, especially since the long-term effects of inhaling this chemical concoction have not yet been studied.
Conclusion
Vaping can lead to several health issues if you previously were a non-smoker or doing it for a really long time. While it may not be as dangerous as smoking traditional cigarettes, vaping still poses a risk to your overall well-being and should only be done in moderation. If you have any questions or concerns about how this information affects you specifically, please contact your doctor right away.
