Electronic cigarettes: Invention helps detox or new killer?

Research on the impact of e-cigarettes especially on long-term health effects is still controversial.

Electronic cigarette is also known as e-cigarette , electronic nicotine delivery system, vaporizer cigarette and vape pen. They are invented as a way to stop smoking or limit smoking.

An electronic cigarette works with the battery and releases the evaporated nicotine dose for the user to inhale. It gives a similar feeling when inhaling tobacco smoke but not by tobacco.

Most electronic cigarettes have a mouthpiece, or cartridge, a heater, a rechargeable battery and an electrical circuit. When the user sucks, there will be a sensor that activates the heater to evaporate the liquid, the flavor is kept in the mouthpiece. After that, the user will "vape" (suck the mouth) or inhale the gas solution. The nicotine content will vary from 0 to extremely high or 24 to 36 mg / ml of breathing air.

Most electronic cigarettes have a mouthpiece, or cartridge, a heater, a rechargeable battery and an electrical circuit.

'I can not stop'

"Vaping" is now the most popular form of tobacco use by American teenagers. The number of e-cigarette teenagers increased by 900% between 2011 and 2015.

A student at Cape Elizabeth High School in Maine was caught "vaping" in school three times. When sitting in the office of the assistant principal, the male student said: 'I can't stop'.

The school has been struggling to control a 'vaping explosion' among high school students across the country. They fear that these devices will create a new generation of nicotine addicts.

Vape devices are designed to be more sophisticated, modern and difficult to detect. They also taste like fruit or peppermint, making little cries, making some students able to use even in class. They can attach them to the collar of a shirt or bra strap and rely on somewhere to suck a breath that no one knows.

In 2016, more than 2 million American middle and high school students tried e-cigarettes.

How dangerous is electronic cigarette addiction?

Some studies have found that the use of electronic cigarettes may help some people quit smoking. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concludes that e-cigarettes can benefit adults smoking as long as they use them to replace regular cigarettes.

However, it is not necessarily electronic cigarettes that will be safe for users. A study published in July found that more than 90% of smokers still can't get rid of the habit after one year of using e-cigarettes. Among them, 54% still smoke and vape, 37% continue to smoke but give up vape completely.

Electronic cigarettes don't emit toxic smoke like regular cigarettes. However, that does not mean that they are a healthy alternative to regular cigarettes.

When you smoke an e-cigarette, you are putting nicotine (absorbed into your bloodstream through your lungs) into your body. In addition to being a highly addictive drug, nicotine is also very toxic when used in high concentrations. This substance has been used as a pesticide to kill fleas. Even, some cases have died when the nicotine liquid in electronic cigarettes absorbed through the skin.

Nicotine affects the brain and nervous system, increases blood pressure and heart rate. The bigger the nicotine, the higher the blood pressure and heart rate. This may cause cardiac arrhythmias. In rare cases, especially when taking large doses of nicotine, arrhythmias can cause heart failure and death.

Liz Blackwell, a school nurse in Boulder (Colorado), offers a collection of confiscated vape pens from students in a presentation at Nevin Platt High School.

After the initial effect of e-cigarettes is 'lethargic' , the body begins to crave nicotine. You may feel depressed, tired and irritable (called nicotine withdrawal). Over time, the use of nicotine can lead to serious health problems, including heart disease, blood clots and stomach ulcers.

Since 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked manufacturers to warn of nicotine-containing electronic cigarette products. CDC also warned about the use of electronic cigarettes by young people, pregnant women or non-tobacco adults.

Risk of injury of electronic cigarettes

In addition to being unable to give up smoking and switching to vape addiction, as well as causing common tobacco-like illnesses, electronic cigarettes also pose a risk of explosion affecting the lives of users. .

In 2016, a 14-year-old boy was blind when an electronic cigarette exploded at a central kiosk in Brooklyn. An injury occurs after an employee connects a suction pot to a battery at the store. The boy, Leor Domatov, said that he could no longer see anything. "I felt it cut through my cornea."

A 17-year-old boy in New York was injured when electronic cigarettes exploded in his hand while he was holding and smoking. The patient's mother said, "My son flew through the door, I really thought he had a car accident because he had too much blood."

In 2015, a 33-year-old man from Surrey (England) said he quit smoking and switched to 'vaping' to prolong his life. But this "healthy" alternative gives him more harm than good. When he was smoking, the system caught the hot nicotine solution down his throat and caused the lungs to perforate.

Besides, the liquids used to burn electronic cigarettes have a fragrance that attracts children. According to research at the Injury Policy Research and Center at the National Children's Hospital in Ohio, the number of children hospitalized for swallowing nicotine liquid in e-cigarettes is increasing in the West. From 2012-2015, calls that reflect children swallowing or sniffing e-cigarettes have increased from 14 to 223 in three short years.