What Are the Health Risks of E-Cigarettes?
E-cigarettes, like conventional cigarettes, carry significant health risks when used for extended periods of time.
Lung and Heart Damage
According to Dr. Kohli, studies continue to demonstrate that using e-cigarettes may seriously harm one’s lungs. He cites nicotine as an example of a strong vasoconstrictor—a substance that raises blood pressure. Vaping may be particularly dangerous for the heart and lungs since e-cigarettes deliver nicotine to the body so fast.
Additionally, vaping juice includes chemical components and chemicals that have their own set of health hazards. According to Dr. Kohli, inhaling the vapor from an e-cigarette may exacerbate severe side effects that researchers are only starting to study. Among these dangers are:
- Respiratory irritation and lung disease. “This is a very real problem that doctors are seeing more and more of,” says Dr. Kohli, “especially in [young people] who get admitted to the hospital due to lung disease related to vaping and electronic cigarettes.”
- An increased risk of heart disease. According to Dr. Kohli, this is a result of breathing in very tiny chemical particles. According to Dr. Krol, these particles may include acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde, which are serious cardiovascular poisons.
- A higher chance of developing cancer as a result of breathing in carcinogens such formaldehyde, lead, and acrolein.
- An increased risk of blood clots, particularly for individuals using certain birth control methods
- Chronic breathing issues. According to Dr. Krol, teen e-cigarette usage is significantly linked to an increase in chronic cough, bronchitis, and asthma.
Nicotine Addiction
According to a 2017 research that was published in the American Journal of Public Health, up to 99% of e-cigarettes that are marketed in the U.S. contain nicotine, even when it isn’t listed as an ingredient on a product’s label. Due to the surge of endorphins, or feel-good hormones, that it causes, nicotine is very addictive. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that raises dopamine levels and encourages vaping.
It may be challenging to break the habit since withdrawal symptoms including irritability, anger, problems focusing, restlessness, sleeplessness, melancholy, and anxiety can appear when the benefits of the nicotine wear off.
Teen Smoking
Although e-cigarettes were first designed as a tool to aid in the cessation of smoking, they may really be breeding a whole new generation of smokers. In the United States, more over two million middle and high school kids reported using e-cigarettes in the last 30 days, according to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
Dr. Krol says that e-cigarettes provide the same psychoactive substance (nicotine) as traditional cigarettes—sometimes at a larger dosage. “The growing brain is susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of nicotine, and adolescent brain development is fast. The addiction becomes stronger and quitting is harder the earlier in childhood someone uses nicotine-containing products like e-cigarettes, says Dr. Krol.
According to Dr. Krol, adolescents and young adults who use e-cigarettes have a larger risk of switching to regular cigarettes than those who do not. According to a 2020 article in Mobile Medical Education, teens and young people who have used e-cigarettes are 3.6 times more likely to report consuming regular cigarettes in the future.
