In most developed countries, cardiovascular disease is the greatest cause of death outside of old age. As such, it is only right to have concerns about your blood vessels and vascular function, especially with modern trends such as vaping.
Does vaping weed constrict blood vessels? Yes. Although studies generally go either way, leading to inconclusive results, there is a body of evidence to suggest that starting to vape and long term marijuana use lead to blood vessel damage.
What do we mean by inconclusive results however? Simply put, the effects of vaping are still under scientific review as the popularity of e-cigarette vaping is still a new trend.
Previous lab studies into the risks of a heart attack and vaping aren’t always looking at vaping marijuana. Similarly, one form of vaping may differ from another depending on the content of the vapor.
While traditional smoking methods are infamous for their long term health effects, the difference between smoking and vaping is yet to be fully highlighted.
Lung damage, a negative impact on motor functions, and stiffer arteries are all being analysed as potential side effects of inhaling e-cigarette vapor.
Some studies have also begun to look at the effect of basic vapor and adolescent brains, as vaping juul pens is popular with American high schoolers.
Why Do you Need a Healthy Blood Flow?
A healthy blood flow is essential for a person’s body to function normally. A properly functioning circulatory system transports oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, removes toxins, and maintains balanced acid-base levels.
Blood flow and unconstricted blood vessels are vital for the human body, and for your basic survival needs. Blood is the way oxygen reaches your muscles, so a healthy blood flow makes sure you can move freely and avoid cramping up.
A good circulation also helps distribute weight evenly, preventing obesity or other health problems associated with excess fat storage in certain areas of the body.
The health of our blood flow is usually determined by two factors: our blood pressure and our blood flow. Our blood pressure is the pressure of the blood inside our blood vessels.
Poor blood flow also leads to premature heart attacks. Even conventional tobacco smoking, which inflames the blood vessels, causes a rise in heart attacks.
The long term impact on blood flow concerning cannabis and vaping is still under review, but the links between poor blood flow and subsequent heart attack are well recorded.
Lacking blood flow to the human brain can also cause issues, such as dizziness and fatigue. However, other major impacts can lead to loss of brain cells.
Blood flow is necessary for proper motor function, immune function to fight diseases, and in some cases can affect changes in a person’s body mass.
Constant, consistent flow allows the body’s systems to work more effectively and efficiently. When our systems work more effectively, we can reap the many health benefits associated with good health.
Marijuana and Blood Flow
In short, a healthy blood flow is essential for a well-functioning body. It is something to strive for, and something that can be improved with a little effort.
Cannabis is known to constrict blood vessels, however most other known health risks associated with marijuana can be misleading.
For example, a human study concerning lung illnesses finds that marijuana is as bad as tobacco. However, most marijauana cigarettes are mixed with tobacco.
While all plants produce tar and other toxins which can be damaging lungs, cannabis produces less than conventional tobacco smoke.
The chemicals which lead to a reduced blood flow in weed also have a poor brain penetration, meaning it is less likely to affect your brain’s blood supply, according to one toxic study.
While you can still experience a negative impact on your motor function in conditions where you have smoked weed, they tend to be a shorter term effect.
Vaping and Blood Flow
Initial vaping has been shown to cause damage to otherwise healthy blood vessels. Reduced blood flow can affect blood clotting, and other vital immune responses.
The USB bodies and generally “healthy” connotation attached to vapes may be true when compared to cigarettes, but restrictions to blood flow in vital areas like the femoral artery beg to differ.
Irritation and inflammation of the blood vessels is also a hallmark of atherosclerosi, a symptom where the vessel grows thick and permanently restricted.
Hallmarks of atherosclerosi typically lead to cardiac arrest, so if vape juice can be linked to it then it may be time for vape manufacturers to be regulated more closely.
As it stands however, vape juice has not been linked to anything like this, and most studies on the blood of volunteers show an immediate vessel constriction rather than permanent damage.
One thing that may not be safe in vape juice however is Propylene Glycol. This sugary gas keeps everything dissolved into the vape pen, allowing it to be turned into a vapor.
However, while safe to ingest, studies on the effects of inhaling propylene glycol long term are still in the works, and may not paint such a pretty picture for electronic cigarettes.
The Issue With Drug and Vape Studies
Drug and vape studies do come with their downsides unfortunately, and do pose problems when trying to make ethical and healthy choices surrounding vape pens.
The fact that vaping remains a recent trend makes studying the long term effects of vaping weed and other substances very difficult, especially as cannabis has only been legalized recently in most places.
Without studying the long term benefits or damage to the human body, it can be difficult to come to a concrete answer on how good vaping is for you.
When it comes to drug studies, many scientific studies came during the American “War on Drugs” and generally were designed to paint narcotics in a bad light.
Studies based on mice and marijuana for example, demonstrated that marijuana use caused a loss in brain cells.
In reality however, the mice suffered oxygen asphyxiation from exposure to cannabis smoke, which caused the brain damage to occur.
Are any of the studies you have found based on vaping dry herb? I’ve only been able to find studies and articles about vape juice, but dry herb vaporising seems a grey area.