The electronic cigarette (or e-cig in English) is a device that allows you to inhale steam, containing variable quantities of nicotine (between 6 and 20 mg) in a mixture composed of water, propylene glycol, glycerol and other substances, including flavoring. Its use, starting from 2010, the year in which it started and spread in Italy, has grown exponentially, passing, according to ISTAT data, from just under 2% in 2014 to just over 3% in 2019 in subjects between 18 and 69 years old. Furthermore, in recent years the number of students who use it has more than doubled: according to GYTS data (Global Youth Tobacco Survey) went from 0% in 2010 to 8.4% in 2014 to 17.5% in 2018. But if on the one hand the use of electronic cigarettes has grown, on the other toxicological research has not kept up to identify the potential health risks associated with alternative tobacco products. For this reason, vaping has been at the center of a heated scientific debate for years: on the one hand there are those who consider it a method that helps to quit smoking by providing a safe alternative to cigarettes, on the other there are those who believe it harmful to health and to the fight against smoking. To date, due to the variety of products available on the market and the short time they have been studied, it is still difficult to establish the long-term effects of e-cigarettes on human health. According to the final opinion of the Scientific Committee of the European Commission, published in April 2021, this device can cause mild to moderate irritative damage to both the respiratory tract and the cardiovascular system. In addition, the experts also found risks of carcinogenicity for the respiratory tract due to long-term cumulative exposure to harmful substances contained in it.
In this regard, a recent study, conducted by a team led by scientists from Grossman School of Medicine dell’New York University, has shown how the harmful effects associated with the use of electronic cigarettes also vary according to what you smoke. This is because those who use electronic cigarettes and hookahs put their upper airways at risk above all as they exhale from the nose, while those who prefer traditional cigarettes inhale more deeply therefore put the lungs at greater risk. And this can be the cause of different diseases: while, in fact, cancers of the nasal cavity, sinuses and throat are more frequent in vapers, lung cancer is more frequent in traditional smokers. The study was published in the journal Tobacco Use Insights.
I study
Researchers recruited 341 male and female New York smokers, including 122 traditional cigarette smokers, 123 e-cigarette users, and 96 hookah users, and observed how many “smokers” and “vapers” exhaled through the nose and / or mouth. . Furthermore, as regards e-cigarette smokers, they also recorded the type of device used, whether of the “pen” or “tank” type, to understand if the model could influence behavior in some way and therefore the effects on health.
The practice of “retrohaling”
It was observed that vapers emitted more smoke from the nose (63% of men and 50% of women) than traditional smokers (22%). The reason is linked to the greater tendency that vapers have to exhale through the nose and not from the mouth (as traditional smokers do) to better savor the aromas of the liquid loaded in the device: this practice is known as “retrohaling“. This technique causes harmful particles (such as carbon monoxide, nicotine and other toxic compounds) present in the device to pass through the nose, causing serious illnesses. “Our results – said the lead author of the study Emma Karey – suggest that the unique way that vapers and hookah smokers use their devices can expose the nose and sinuses to far more emissions than cigarettes, which in turn can increase the risk of upper respiratory disease. “
If you smoke an e-cigarette, you may become helpless
Those who ‘svapa’ have a higher risk of nose cancer
This practice of the retrohaling”Can, therefore, expose the structures of the nose of those who vape or smoke the hookah to much more fumes of harmful substances causing inflammation. Researchers have, in fact, found in the nasal tissues of vapors and hookah users, levels of inflammatory compounds ten times higher than those found in traditional smokers, which can damage these tissues and cause some types of cancer. “Since vaping devices and hookahs are used differently than traditional cigarettes – underlined the co-author of the study Terry Gordon – we must consider diseases of the nose and lungs to assess their safety before judging whether one is more risky than another “.
These results are in line with those of other previous studies showing that traditional cigarette smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer because they tend to inhale deeply, while cigar smokers, who tend to inhale more superficially, have a higher risk of throat and mouth cancer.
Is the traditional cigarette better or the electronic one?
As many people use e-cigarettes to reduce the harm of smoking or to quit smoking, research is investigating the long-term effects of smoking. e-cig to understand if it is really a healthy alternative. From the results of the most recent studies it seems that the damages of the electronic cigarette are not at all lower than those of the traditional one. In addition to the damage it can cause to the upper respiratory tract, as emerged from the aforementioned study, another research, published in theAmerican Journal of Preventative Medicine, has shown how e-cigarette use contributes to erectile dysfunction regardless of age and other risk factors, as it causes changes in the vascularity of the penis. But not only that, yet another study conducted by the scientists of the University of Kansas-Wichita School of Medicine, showed that e-cigarette smokers are 56% more likely to have a heart attack, 30% more likely to have a stroke; 44% more likely to develop circulatory problems and twice as likely to experience depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders.
These studies confirm what the World Health Organization (WHO) had already stated in 2019, namely: “E-cigarettes are no less harmful than traditional cigarettes. They are not without risks, and their long-term impact on health and mortality is still unknown ”.