Smoking, Vaping Pose Risks Beyond Lungs - SMC Specialists

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- Smoking and vaping could cause serious damage to vital organs long before symptoms appear, increasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure, even among younger individuals, medical experts have warned. 

Sunway Medical Centre (SMC), Sunway City respiratory physician and interventional pulmonologist Dr Syed Ajmal Syed Ali said the misconception that smoking primarily affects the lungs often leads people to underestimate its wider and potentially life-threatening consequences.

“Smoking is best understood as a systemic disease process, not a single-organ problem. When you inhale a cigarette or a vape, more than 7,000 chemicals can enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the entire body. The lungs are just where the story begins,” he said in a statement today.

He said harmful chemicals from smoking could damage the inner lining of blood vessels, causing arteries to narrow and harden, while increasing the likelihood of blood clots that could trigger heart attacks and strokes.

Smoking also accelerates kidney damage, suppresses the immune system and causes chronic inflammation, while carbon monoxide from cigarette smoke reduces oxygen delivery to vital organs, including the heart and brain. 

Dr Syed Ajmal said the cumulative effects were particularly concerning among individuals who started smoking at a young age, as serious health complications could develop after years of exposure, even without early warning signs. 

“If you start at 15 or 16, by the time you are 35, you have nearly two decades of cumulative damage. The harm is there; it just has not yet shown up on a scan. That is not reassurance, that is a warning,” he said.

Meanwhile, SMC emergency medicine physician Dr Ian Tey Zhe Yuan said smoking remained a major risk factor in medical emergencies involving heart attacks, strokes, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acute asthma and pneumonia.

He said serious cardiovascular conditions were no longer confined to older patients, with younger individuals increasingly facing potentially life-threatening complications associated with smoking.

“Being young no longer gives you a free pass. The idea that serious cardiovascular diseases will only happen to older people simply does not hold anymore,” he said. 

The Malaysian National Cardiovascular Disease Database (NCVD) indicated a rising incidence of acute coronary syndrome among patients under 45, with smoking identified as a key independent risk factor.

Both doctors also cautioned against the perception that vaping and heated tobacco products were safe alternatives to conventional cigarettes, noting that users continued to face exposure to potentially harmful chemicals and nicotine dependence. 

Dr Syed Ajmal said chemicals in vape liquids could undergo changes when heated, with some potentially becoming carcinogenic, while higher nicotine concentrations in certain products could increase dependency, particularly among younger users.

According to the Ministry of Health’s National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023, about 19 per cent of Malaysian adults used tobacco products, while e-cigarette use among those aged 15 to 24 was also a growing concern.

Despite the risks, Dr Syed Ajmal said quitting smoking could deliver significant health benefits, with oxygen delivery improving within 24 hours, blood circulation strengthening within weeks and the risks of heart attacks declining by approximately 50 per cent within a year, according to the statement. 

Both doctors encouraged smokers to seek professional assistance through nicotine replacement therapy, prescribed medication and structured cessation programmes, while Dr Syed Ajmal also recommended annual low-dose CT lung cancer screening for individuals aged above 50 with a significant smoking history. 

-- BERNAMA