could be very enticing to the youth and especially to non-smokers. Tobacco is generally the flavor first picked at the start, but the other flavors such as mixed fruit, alcohol, soda and candy seem to be taking place.
- Other compounds: many of the toxic elements present in tobacco cigarettes were shown to exist in e-cigs but in much lower levels including: metals such as tin, lead, nickel, arsenic, etc. tobacco-specific nitrosamines, carbonyls which are mainly obtained from the thermal degradation of the main substances present in the liquid.
The side effects of the components on human health Endless debates, initiated by numerous surveys and clinical studies, argue the safety or hazardousness of such products on human health.
The effects of e-cigs on the human body depend on the state of the user and whether he / she is a current, a previous or a non-smoker of conventional cigarettes. The latter users seem to reveal more threatening side effects than the two former categories. In fact, subjects who have never been exposed to tobacco smoke develop a high dependency due to the nicotine delivered in the aerosol.
In addition to being an addictive substance; nicotine present in the e-cigs-similarly to that of cigarette smoke- is responsible for many negative systemic effects, starting with an irritation and burning sensation in the throat, sialorrhea, nausea and abdominal pain; to inducing tachycardia by causing an important release of cathecholamines and producing hyperglycemia due to an increase in fatty acids blood level. Despite these side effects, recent data do not show an increase in the risk of cancer or cardio-pulmonary disease with chronic exposure to nicotine without tobacco smoke 1.
In regard to the other components of the e-liquid, clinical experiments assessed the consequences of long-term exposure and proved them to be potentially deleterious and even carcinogenic 1, 2. The toxicity of these substances lies in their ability to convert to pernicious chemicals when certain conditions are at hand, inter alia, the battery voltage and the temperature of the e-liquid. For instance, Propylene oxide-presumed to be a human carcinogen- is the product of the composition of propylene glycol that is already present in the e-liquid.
Even though traced in small amounts, other virulent compounds were identified and proved to play a considerable role in triggering carcinogenesis in different organs. Among them are included Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines( TSNAs), carbonyl compounds, metals, volatile organic compounds and phenolic compounds.
In January 2018, laboratory experiments 3, 6 demonstrated E-Cigarette Smoke( ECS) to be damaging to the DNA of lab rat’ s cells in specific organs, namely the lungs, the bladder and the heart. The substances of the vapor seem to also inhibit DNA repair resulting in cancer and heart disease. Further researches were made and emphasized the credibility of this proposal. As a matter of fact, a metabolite of nicotine, called nicotine derived nitrosamine ketone was shown to reinforce mutational activity and tumorigenesis in cultured human bronchial epithelial and urothelial cells. The concerned constituents could therefore be responsible for lung and bladder cancer, as well as heart disease in humans. Furthermore, the penetration of these substances and some specific types of flvorings inside the lungs; particularly diacetyl( found in 75 % of the flavorings) and benzaldehyde( contained in Cherry flavors) could induce modifications in the airways and be responsible for chronic bronchitis symptoms( cough and phlegm), oxidative stress and even asthma symptoms; although another paradoxical effect of e-cigs on asthma is subsequently discussed.
Not to mention that reflective reviews have identified cases of default in e-cigs use. Accidental swallowing of e-liquid for instance, had caused serious injuries, burns and poisonings which were in most cases fatal. This was explained by the fact that the characteristic features of the chemicals present in the e-liquid when ingested are different from those when inhaled.
The implication of e-cigs in smoking cessation Nonetheless, one unquestionable fact is that vaping is way less harmful than smoking and the odds of developing cancer are higher in tobacco smoke exposure 1. This is based on the fact that, comparing tobacco smoke inhalation to vaping, many adverse health effects induced by the former are absent while using the latter. Explaining thus why recent medical data propose e-cigs as potential aids in smoking cessation 5. In one hand, clinical outcomes showed a progress in blood pressure and an improvement of respiratory signs of a numerous number of asthmatics after a period of switching to e-cigs 1. The risk to develop diseases and the level of morbidity was esteemed to be decreased in this category of people.
In another hand, positive results were noticed for pregnant users going through smoking cessation. Despite the fact that any amount of nicotine should be withheld during pregnancy, clinical reports have shown the necessity of using e-cigs as a better alternative for tobacco cigarettes. This concerned precisely highly addictive mothers who aspired to have healthier children.
Among the other NRT methods, e-cigs seem to
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