heart disease research often focuses on older adults and physical habits. However there is a growing mental health emergency among youth that is leading to increased nicotine use (smoking and vaping). The problem is that youth are using nicotine to cope with stress and depression, unaware that the combination of mental health strain and nicotine creates a double side effect to the cardiovascular system, causing early heart damage during a important stage of physical development in youth.

1. Research & Data Collection

• The CDC (Centers for Disease Control): To find the percentage of youth using nicotine to cope with mental health.
• The American College of Cardiology (JACC): To identify the physical "structural damage" caused by early smoking.
• The Matilda Centre (University of Sydney): To gather survey data on the link between vaping and depression symptoms in over 5,000 students.

2. Comparative Analysis (The "Heart Stress" Model)

I compared the physiological effects of stress and nicotine on the cardiovascular system by creating a data model. I analyzed three specific scenarios:

• Group A (Control): Healthy/Relaxed youth (Baseline BPM: 60–80).
• Group B (Variable 1): Youth with high stress/anxiety only.
• Group C (Variable 2): Youth using nicotine while experiencing high stress.

Correlation of Results

I concluded the data to determine if the physical "strain" (increased BPM and inflammation) from mental health issues multiplied the damage caused by nicotine. I then checked my hypothesis by looking at the 33%–52% increase in heart damage reported in the JACC studies.

• The Nicotine-Dopamine Cycle: Research shows nicotine reaches the brain in 10 seconds, copying dopamine to trigger positive feelings. This leads to down-regulation where the brain shuts down its own receptors, causing withdrawal convincing anxiety and making it harder for youth to quit.
• Mental Health and Usage: A 2024 Matilda Centre study found that youth with severe depressive symptoms were over twice as likely to have tried vapes. CDC data also confirms that over 50% of youth who vape do so to cope with anxiety or stress.
• Physical Heart Damage: According to a 2024 JACC study, smoking from childhood (age 10) increases the risk of early structural heart damage (Atherosclerosis) by 33% to 52%.
• The Double Effect: Research into cardiovascular physiology explains that while nicotine shrinks blood vessels, stress hormones like cortisol cause inflammation and sticky blood (Endothelial Dysfunction), forcing the heart to work at exercise levels even at rest.

** **

conclusion The purpose of this study was to determine how youth mental health and smoking interact to increase the risk of heart disease. After analyzing data from the CDC, the American Heart Association, and the Matilda Centre, my hypothesis was supported. I found that mental health and nicotine use create a hot mess for the cardiovascular system:

1. The Loop: Youth with depression or high stress are twice as likely to use nicotine as a coping mechanism to increase dopamine. However, through down-regulation, the brain loses its ability to feel pleasure naturally, leading to a cycle of withdrawal-produced anxiety.
2. Physical Strain: While a healthy resting heart rate is 60–80 BPM, the combination of nicotine and stress forces the youth heart to work at 100+ BPM. This essentially puts the heart under "exercise-level" strain while the body is at rest.
3. Structural Damage: Because youth are in a stage of synaptic pruning and high neuroplasticity, these habits become built in more easily than in adults, leading to a 33% to 52% higher chance of early structural heart damage (Atherosclerosis).

In summary, mental health issues don't just lead to smoking; they multiply the physical damage smoking does to the heart.

My research proves that mental health and smoking work together to damage the heart much faster than either one alone. I found that youth often use nicotine to deal with stress, but this creates a dangerous cycle  where the brain actually becomes more anxious during withdrawal. My hypothesis was correct: the combination of high stress (which causes inflammation) and nicotine (which shrinks blood vessels) forces a young person's heart to work at "exercise levels" even when they are resting. This explains why smoking starting in youth leads to much higher rates of heart disease later in life.

• Smoking and mental health
• Vaping teens twice as likely to have mental health issues | Tonic Media Network
• How Smoking Affects the Heart and Blood Vessels | NHLBI, NIH
• About Heart Disease and Mental Health
• Smoking Health Risks | Smokefree
• Smoking From Childhood Associated With Greater Risk of Cardiac Damage - American College of Cardiology.
• E-Cigarette Use and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Among US Middle and High School Students.
• E-Cigarette Use and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Among US Middle and High School Students%20%E2%80%94%20and%20%E2%80%9Cfeeling%20anxious,not%20use%20any%20quitting%20resources)
• Cigarette Smoking and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.
• https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/about/benefits-of-quitting.html
• Quit smoking for your heart - Fraser Health
• Timeline after quitting smoking
• https://www.psychiatry.org/search-results?searchText=smoking
• https://nida.nih.gov/search/smoking?sort=_score&language=en

I would like to thank the following people and organizations for their contributions to my project: Scientific Organizations: I am grateful to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American College of Cardiology, and the Matilda Centre at the University of Sydney. Their 2024–2026 reports and data sets provided the evidence needed to analyze the link between youth mental health and heart disease. My Teacher: Manal Elkadri my science teacher for guiding me through the CYSF registration process My Family: Thank you to my parents for providing me the materials and time i needed.