Anthony
Anthony
Merlin, Anthony
Professor Vogle, Angeline
English 100
11 December 2022
The new cancer stick?
Over the past decade, e-cigarettes have been on the rise, with most people replacing tobacco addiction with vaping. Vaping and e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are drugs from electronic gadgets emitting smoke. The use of these e-cigarettes has been accepted into society with the notion that they have less impact on the normal human being. Additionally, vaping has the convenience factor of being able to do it anywhere, unlike its counterpart, tobacco, in which you primarily see smoked outdoors. Researchers argue that they have less effect on the human body than tobacco because it has few toxic substances. However, the main reason many people use as they shift their focus from normal tobacco abuse to vaping is that there are fewer chances of lung cancer u like tobacco, whose impact is terminal. Others have claimed that vaping is a ‘cure’ to tobacco addiction which many people, ranging from doctors to parents, condemn their clients and children. Numerous theories are sprouting to validate the popularisation and use of electronic cigarettes, but vaping is equally addictive and has health effects. As much as vaping has reduced the number of people in tobacco addiction, other drastic effects affect the human body, such as the danger of heart attacks, a tendency to abuse other drugs, addiction to nicotine-containing drugs, and brain damage.
The rising popularity of e-cigarettes is attributed to the advertisements for these products, which claim their ability to diminish tobacco addiction. Additionally, with vape flavors like Blue Rasberry and Cherry Cola, It’s blatantly apparent that these flavors would appeal to a younger audience. This is a systemic problem that the united states is currently dealing with. Doctors have confirmed that when people opt to vape, their urge to use tobacco reduces significantly, and they can abandon tobacco smoking without much strain. Research indicates that between 2010 and 2020, the number of e-cigarette users doubled gradually. The number of people using e-cigarettes in 2010 is half the number using e-cigarettes in 2020 (LoRe, Michael.). This means that several people have opted to supplement their growing urge and addiction to tobacco by using e-cigarettes. Furthermore, the convenience of smoking indoors and outdoors without a lasting scent further drives the consumer value of vaping. We are currently seeing how modern technology has shifted severely from tobacco products to an even worse and more addicting product. Physicians also confirmed that nearly all people who opted for vaping had a testimony that they could do without smoking tobacco. People use e-cigarettes for various reasons, most notably those highlighted in drug advertisements. The producers assert that e-cigarettes contain less N2O and harmful chemicals than other tobacco products. The amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes is the same as in tobacco, but its users are unaware of this (Miech, Richard). Even though many individuals have embraced vaping (the use of e-cigarettes) because of their significance, it is essential to note that the drug has several adverse consequences. We seek to learn the truth about e-cigarettes and the epidemic of young nicotine addicts that continues to spread beneath a cash cow industry, even if their use has been shown to be successful for smoking addicts in adults.
The users of e-cigarettes should also be aware that the manufacturer of this drug reduced the toxic substances but did not eradicate them. This shows that even if the toxic substances have been reduced, they are still present, and therefore possible for the health effects to be there. This comes after claims made in commercials for e-cigarettes that the smoke they produce has fewer hazardous substances and dinitrogen oxide, which is the main factor in thrombosis when people smoke. Ramirez, Jean E. Montes commented on the advertisement and claim that the manufacturer reduces the dangerous elements, not completely solving the issue. E-cigarette nicotine content is consistent, making them just as addictive as regular tobacco products. This explains why more youngsters use e-cigarettes daily in the United States and other countries.
The negative impact of e-cigarettes is that it is more addictive than tobacco, even if it has fewer health impacts. Ramirez argues that no surveys are conducted to satisfy the fact that this drug has fewer health impacts on the human body. He claims that the drug has been introduced recently, and the only available research that supports the popular claim that the drug has no impacts is short-term research. His main concern is that there may be long-term effects of using e-cigarettes in large quantities. This follows the argument mentioned earlier that there are toxins in e-cigarettes, but they are less than tobacco. However, he argues that electronic cigarettes also have the same amount of nicotine as tobacco. Nicotine is a substance responsible for tobacco addiction and substances containing tobacco. Additionally, it shows that even when people are shunning away from tobacco with claims that it is addictive, they are venturing into an equally addictive substance. In fact, the researcher assumes that vaping can captivate many people into addiction because of its legality. The number of people consuming electronic cigarettes will be high because teenagers can use it in their parent’s presence discreetly, unlike tobacco which is highly discouraged by parents and guardians.
Additionally, doctors have raised suspicions that vaping can cause lung cancer, like tobacco. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of people diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States of America (USA) increased. The doctors claim that a higher number of hospitalized people with lung cancer are also frequent users of e-cigarettes. This hypothesis is supported by numerous cases of persons hospitalized in US hospitals in 2019 for severe lung infections. The doctors established that the patients with severe lung infections were frequent users of e-cigarettes, which could have been the cause, even though no long-term repercussions of vaping have been definitively shown. The symptoms displayed by these patients paralleled those of marijuana users. Chest aches and coughing, which may be accompanied by breathing problems, were some of the symptoms.
Furthermore, doctors agreed that these symptoms might be caused by the lungs’ being infected by pollution, and it is indisputable that e-cigarettes emit smoke. Vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea were almost universally experienced by patients. These patients’ chances of survival were significantly decreased due to the possibility that they also had serious conditions. Weight loss is another sign of severe lung disease, noticeable in emaciated patients admitted to hospitals (Huizink). Additionally, according to doctor reports, patients who have advanced to this stage are more likely to require hospitalization and have a lower chance of surviving.
Another drastic effect of vaping is the victim’s vulnerability to pneumonia. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the tendency of a person to use other drugs containing nicotine is high. An infection of the lungs known as cryptogenic organizing pneumonia causes the condition. Penzes, Melinda believes that individuals who use e-cigarettes and have dabbled in other drugs risk their health deteriorating due to the other drugs. The authors acknowledge that smokers who switch to e-cigarettes see improvements in their health, but dual users who abuse other nicotinic medications run the danger of seeing their health deteriorate. Penzes argues that;
“Dual users indicated several AEs (e.g., weakened taste; chest pain; black tongue; and painful, swollen, and red tongue or mouth) that were not experienced by any exclusive vapers. If this isn’t enough to convince you to quit, then Godspeed. Our results suggest that the majority of listed AEs were unrelated to nicotine. It is speculated that oral AEs may be due to other inhaled chemicals from the e-liquid, changes in intraoral pH, mucosal drying, or altered oral immune response [43]. Other AEs may be associated with inhaled e-liquid irritants, puffing characteristics, and related changes in breathing [44]. Nevertheless, the extent to which dual-use generated these AEs is unclear. Contrary to previous studies that found that dual users experienced more AEs, our study did not explore significant differences in reporting AEs among this group compared to exclusive users” (Penzes, Melinda).
Even after becoming aware of these negative effects, continued use of these drugs may result in fatal conditions such as heart attacks and seizures. Some of the hospitalized vaping addicts in the 2019 case had severe lung disease and had previously had seizures and other pharmacological side effects that could impact the brain. According to physicians, seizures may suggest a probable brain infection, even if there has not been conclusive evidence linking vaping to problems with mental health and character soundness. In addition, heavy e-cigarette use can cause heart attacks in individuals. According to the study, because of the hundreds of harmful compounds included in electronic cigarettes, around 56% of e-cigarette users are prone to get blood infections (Butt, Yasmeen). As toxicants continue to introduce pollutants into the blood, blood infections encourage problems with blood circulation. The likelihood of risk grows in proportion to the user’s propensity for using additional medications.
In conclusion, vaping has many adverse health effects on a human, even when people champion its adoption. This phrase means that electronic cigarettes are better than tobacco, but they have health effects that could be more than those of other drugs. Furthermore, the vaping industry is booming with public opinion compared to the tobacco industry..Some of this drug’s most common side effects include addiction to nicotine-containing drugs, heart attacks, seizures, and mental effects. People are more likely to abuse other drugs containing nicotine, such as marijuana, and end up contracting diseases worse than tobacco. Lung cancer is one of these diseases caused by the excessive smoke produced by e-cigarettes. Researchers have argued that although limited evidence has been captured about the cause of seizures, many patients admitted to hospitals for seizures are abusers of e-cigarettes. Tabacco has taken a back foot to vaping with a lot more not known about the potential long-term effects. Our generation is essentially the lab rats testing the mysterious ramifications of the unknown. The researchers argue that people desist from overly relying on opting to vape to cure tobacco addiction because of its drastic health effects.
Works Cited
Butt, Yasmeen M. “Pathology of vaping-associated lung injury.” New England journal of medicine 381.18 (2019): 1780-1781.
Huizink, Anja C. “Trends and associated risks in adolescent substance use: e-cigarette use and nitrous oxide use.” Current opinion in psychology 2022: 101312.
LoRe, Michael. “4 Major Health Risks Linked To E-Cigarette Use”. Webmd, 2022, https://www.webmd.com/connect-to-care/vaping/vaping-ecigarette-health-risks-lung-heart.
Miech, Richard. “Adolescent vaping and nicotine use in 2017–2018—US national estimates.” New England Journal of Medicine 380.2 (2019): 192–193.
Penzes, Melinda. “Vaping-Related Adverse Events And Perceived Health Improvements: A Cross-Sectional Survey Among Daily E-Cigarette Users.” MDPI, 2022, https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8301/htm.
Ramirez, Jean E. Montes. “The JUUL E-cigarette elevates the risk of thrombosis and potentiates platelet activation.” Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics 25.6 (2020): 578-586.