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Ecuador's Original English Language Newspaper

Vaping use and related deaths raises concern in Cuenca

Published on September 30, 2019

Replacing tobacco use with electronic devices such as vaporizers, vapers and electronic cigarettes is a common practice. About 60 percent of tobacco addicted patients are using these systems as a solution to stop smoking, according to Milton Capón, zonal director of the Health Promotion, who warns that it is not healthy.

He points out that there is a warning from the World Health Organization that advises against the use of electronic nicotine administration systems, which for a long time were recommended as an alternative treatment to quit smoking.

Capón says that these are also generally addictive and are dangerous because they are used in enclosed spaces and also affect passive smokers.

Risks
Among the risks associated with these nicotine administration systems are cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancer, because they contain 20 carcinogenic substances. There are also reports coming in from all over the world of “vaping related illness,” that is causing serious lung damage and even death.

These systems administer can administer nicotine into the bloodstream quite quickly; after 20 minutes of vaping, blood pressure and heart rate are both increased

Capón warns that the consumption of these substances is common in young people, noting that by the age of 14, many kids are already a consuming nicotine through electronic devices.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in a report presented this year in Rio de Janeiro, warns: “These are products that have become a gateway for tobacco for young people. Our recommendation to governments is to treat and regulate them as tobacco products.”

WHO also mentions that “all forms of tobacco use are harmful, including heated tobacco products.“

The Ministry of Health is already working on prevention programs for these devices, but Capón says that a regulation of these is necessary in the country.


Photo Credit: Flickr

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