It’s certainly no secret that smoking, both through cigarettes and their electronic counterpart, vapes, can
have damaging effects on your health. It can severely impede the natural functioning of your heart,
leading to poor heart health. In a United States study of over 106,000 adults, researchers found that
smoking was associated with an earlier onset of cardiovascular disease: an average of 5.1 years earlier for
men and 3.8 years for women. Here are other evidence-based links between smoking and cardiovascular
health.
Smoking and heart health
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers tobacco use an epidemic, with cigarette
smoking causing 480,000 deaths annually in the United States alone. For its part, e-cigarette use has
resulted in over 2,800 e-cigarette or vape lung injury cases in the US, with 68 of those cases resulting in
death. Smoking affects the heart in various ways. The chemicals in cigarette smoke cause the cells in your
blood vessels to narrow and become inflamed due to plaque buildup. This restricts efficient blood flow to
the rest of your body.
When plaque or clots prevent blood flow to the heart, this can result in coronary heart disease (CHD), the
leading heart-related cause of death. Smoking also results in an abnormal heart rhythm, which, like CHD,
can result in heart failure or a heart attack. A study found that heart attacks among 25-44-year-olds
increased by 30% since 2020. Given that there are 2.5 million vaping teens as of 2022, e-cigarette use is
poised to inflate heart attack numbers in the near future – a preventable burden for hospitals and
emergency care facilities and personnel.
Emergency-related concerns
Smokers are more likely to need emergency help. Up to 30% to 40% of patients seen in a hospital’s
emergency department are smokers. In another study of over 838,000 patients to whom CPR was
administered for in-house cardiac arrest, 13.9% were smokers. These risks extend to e-cigarettes; the
American Poison Control Centers noted that vape-related poisoning incidents reported to them hit an all-
time high of 6,731 in 2022. 2023 has seen 6,582 vape-related reports so far. Considering these various
risks, if you use cigarettes or vapes, it’s essential to begin your smoking cessation journey as soon as
possible.
How to quit for good
Smoking and vaping can result in heart complications that lead to future emergencies, making quitting
important. However, some may opt for alternatives to avoid withdrawal symptoms associated with
abruptly quitting smoking. On! nicotine pouches are 100% tobacco-free and are considered to pose far
fewer health risks than traditional products like cigarettes. Because they’re also smoke-free, you can
enjoy nicotine discreetly and with a variety of flavors like lively citrus, aromatic cinnamon, cool
wintergreen, and more. Choose from 2mg, 4mg, and 8mg nicotine strengths, which you can modify as
you progress on your quit journey.
For a hands-free nicotine experience, consider a nicotine patch. NicoDerm CQ patches are designed to
help people quit smoking by gradually stepping down exposure. This can be especially effective when
combined with behavioral changes, which can help regulate smoking-related psychological and
physiological functions like breathing, mood, and heart rate. Coupled with social support and lifestyle
changes, smokers have better odds of leaving cigarettes and e-cigarettes for good.
One lifestyle change to consider, for instance, is getting more rest. Our “How Does Irregular Sleep Affect Heart Health?” article mentioned that those whose sleep time varied by two hours nightly were 2.2 times
more likely to suffer from heart disease. You can support your smoking cessation journey with consistent
and quality sleep – especially since sleep deprivation makes people more likely to crave smoking. Give
your mouth and hands something to do, such as chewing gum, using a fidget toy, or trying hand-intensive
hobbies like drawing or knitting. While quitting a longstanding habit like smoking is never easy, the
positive effects on your body make it worth it, increasing your odds of a healthy heart for a longer and
higher quality of life.
