According to a WHO report, there is no longer any doubt about the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes on health, even if it is too early to know the long-term consequences.
Electronic cigarettes are, without a doubt, dangerous to health. The WHO affirms it in a report published on January 20. They would be particularly harmful for adolescents and could alter the development of the fetus in pregnant women.
WHO regularly monitors and reviews the evidence on e-cigarettes and health and offers guidance to governments and the public https://t.co/S8ZHoux45e pic.twitter.com/M5ZlF7fXZY
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 21, 2020
Consequences on health
The WHO states that electronic cigarettes increase the risk of heart disease and lung disorders. According to his conclusions, they are even more dangerous for adolescents because the brain completes its development around the age of 25. Passive vaping would expose those who undergo it to nicotine and other dangerous chemicals. The fluids used in these devices are often made up of toxic substances including glycol, one of the compounds in antifreeze.
Disputed beneficial effects
The electronic cigarette is generally used to quit smoking. The WHO affirms that it would be a gateway to smoking among the youngest: those who vape would be more likely to smoke cigarettes. She adds that there would not be sufficient proof of the effectiveness of vaping in smoking cessation. WHO researchers recommend that smokers turn to substitute products such as patches or gum. They do not say whether the electronic cigarette is more or less dangerous than tobacco but specify that it is “in no way” safe, and recall that its long-term effects are unknown.
Strong reactions in the UK
In the United Kingdom, scientists strongly criticized the report in a document from the Science Media Center. “The WHO has a reputational history of anti-e-cigarette activism,” said Peter Hajek, director of the Tobacco Addiction Research Unit at Queen Mary University in London. There is no evidence that vaping increases the risk of heart disease or may have any health effect. In its text, the WHO mentions the deaths of people suffering from lung damage in the United States, probably linked to electronic cigarettes. The professor criticizes this positioning: “The epidemic of lung damage in the United States is due to contaminants in illegal marijuana cartridges and has nothing to do with vaping nicotine”. According to him, there would be evidence that these devices help smokers quit. The director of the British center for studies on tobacco and alcohol, John Britton, agrees with his colleague, according to him, electronic cigarettes are “clearly less dangerous” than tobacco.
In France, the Academy of Medicine wanted to reassure vapers in December. for herthese tools are “useful for quitting smoking”and better controlled in France than across the Atlantic.
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