You won’t be surprised to learn that smoking is bad for your heart – decades of research have shown that it’s a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease because it can lead to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, which makes it difficult for blood to reach vital organs.

But perhaps more surprising is that experts believe vaping can have a similarly detrimental effect. Of course, it’ll be many more years before we’re able to learn what the long-term effects of vaping really are, but short-term studies suggest it can have a negative effect on heart health – which is why there’s concern about the rise in young non-smokers who have started using these products.

Why is this? For one thing, vapes contain nicotine. While cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals that aren’t found in vapes, the chemical they do share is nicotine, which has been linked to the formation of plaque. Nicotine has also been linked to increased heart rate and blood pressure, so if you’re getting lots of hits throughout the day (as you do when you vape), that can also be an issue.

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