The use of electronic cigarettes is becoming more and more popular, and it is not falling off the world's agenda due to the fatal damage it causes to the lungs. Stating that death cases have increased from 7 to 33 in the last month, Yeditepe University Hospitals Department of Chest Diseases Prof. Dr. Banu Musaffa Salepçi also emphasized that there is even a case report at the age of 13, even breathing electronic cigarettes causes damage to the body.

Chest Diseases Specialist Prof. Dr. Banu Musaffa Salepçi: "Between March and September 2018, a study was conducted with 31 healthy, non-smoking volunteers with an average age of 24. They inhaled only electronic cigarettes for 2-3 minutes. MRI scans were taken afterward. MRI scans for vascular damage. It has been shown to have very serious acute (rapid) effects. Because the fact that it is a heated tobacco product causes it to reach the lungs faster and from there to the veins. Free radicals and oxidants are emerging. These directly cause damage to the lung cells and cause the accumulation of different cells, which we call inflammation, and the deterioration of the transfer of oxygen to the blood in the lungs, thus causing respiratory failure. As a result, with the deterioration of gas exchange in the lungs, the tissues cannot reach enough oxygen and the patient is lost with respiratory failure.

Most Cases Are Male, Even 13-Year-Old

Member of the Turkish Thoracic Society Tobacco Working Group, Prof. Dr. Banu Musaffa Salepçi explained that the harms of electronic cigarettes are being revealed more and more with studies and added: "Even young people who have never thought about smoking have turned to electronic cigarettes. There are serious advertising campaigns on this. Cases of respiratory failure reported in recent months are usually men around the age of 20. Of the reported cases, 79 percent were male and 75 percent were under the age of 35. There have been reported cases at the age of 13, so sad and widespread, unfortunately. Children sometimes smoke when the liquid cartridges of electronic cigarettes are left in the middle, and serious toxic effects can be seen in children. Apart from that, explosions burn and therefore even deaths have been reported while electronic cigarettes are carried in the pocket.”

Death Number Rises from 7 to 33 In a Month

Pointing out that although the sale of electronic cigarettes has been prohibited in our country in recent years, Prof. Dr. Banu Musaffa Salepçi: "It was claimed by the tobacco industry that it did not cause harm because it did not emit smoke until today. But research has shown that even if it is heated, even if it emits vapor, not smoke, there are aromas, many chemicals in cigarettes, heavy metals, nitrosamines, formaldehyde, additives such as propylene glycol and glycerol, and carcinogens. As of March 31, cases reported in the United States have steadily increased. On August 31, it was found that e-cigarette users had acute respiratory failure, a lung injury that could result in intensive care and then death. The number of cases was around 500. There were seven deaths. However, new data from 15 October show that the number of cases has reached 1,479 and deaths have reached 33. Looking back, it will be seen that this goes back much further.”

Heated Tobacco...

Explaining that electronic cigarettes are made attractive with aromas, Prof. Dr. Banu Musaffa Salepçi concluded her words as follows: "But there are hundreds of studies. The first electronic cigarette was introduced in China in 2004 and later spread all over the world. The damages caused by all of them, including the aromas in them, were determined separately. Currently, the contents of electronic cigarettes used by patients who apply for respiratory failure by the FDA (American Food and Drug Administration) are examined in laboratories. Some have only nicotine, some have both nicotine and many other additives, and some have cannabis, which you call cannabinoids, among other additives. There are many different types of electronic cigarettes. Not only those who contain cannabis, but others also cause respiratory failure.

A Carcinogenic Substance...

There are a wide variety of studies conducted at the molecular level. There is also unpublished work underway. We examine the effects of heated tobacco, which we think is now the last game of the tobacco industry. This makes it seem more harmless than electronic cigarettes. It is thought that tobacco does not burn and does not harm because it heats up. However, heated tobacco is actually somewhere between a regular cigarette and an electronic cigarette. Tobacco, after all, is a carcinogenic substance even when chewed, even if it does not undergo any heating or processing. In other words, a tobacco product cannot be harmless. They compared three of them in this latest study. Both the damage they cause to the veins and the damage they do to the lungs are equivalent. So, we know that no tobacco product can be harmless.”

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