Vaping has long been hailed as a healthier alternative to smoking, and has even had endorsements from the NHS.But a new study suggests that regularly using e-cigarettes could be just as harmful to fitness levels as cigarettes.Research led by Manchester Metropolitan University found that healthy young adults who vaped suffered breathlessness during exercise just as much as smokers did. Vapers also had similarly low levels of overall fitness and had virtually the same degree of damage to their blood vessels.The authors say their findings indicate that the 'normalisation' of vaping - around 5.5 million Britons take part in the habit - could be 'introducing serious health risks' across the nation.The data follows the striking results of a study published last month that found swapping traditional cigarettes for vapes may not significantly reduce the odds of lung cancer. The South Korean scientists noted that, compared with ex-smokers who gave up smoking entirely, those who swapped to vaping were significantly more likely to develop, and die from, the disease.Meanwhile, the number of people who vape in Britain overtook the number of cigarette smokers for the first time ever last year. Although both cigarettes and vapes deliver nicotine, they do so in different ways. Cigarettes burn tobacco, producing thousands of cancer-causing chemicals including tar and carbon monoxide. Anew study suggests that for young adults, regularly using vapes could be just as harmful for the body as smoking tobacco