A man died from the use of electronic cigarettes | Chronic

In the midst of a global controversy over the health consequences of the use of electronic cigarettes, the first death attributable to the use of this device has been registered in the United States. This is a man who has contracted a serious respiratory illness.

"It's the first death of an individual in Illinois who has been hospitalized for a serious respiratory illness due to the use of electronic cigarettes"he said Melaney Arnold, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Health. He added that the number of people admitted with respiratory problems using electronic cigarettes has doubled in recent weeks.

This death adds solid data to the installed debate on whether these types of electronic devices used to combat smoking are safe for health. Clinical indications have been published that indicate residual damage in the body. They even warn that children close to those who use it and who breathe this steam can also suffer consequences for their health. Doubts remain as to what can be inhaled both by those who use them and those around them.

Some of the barriers to an investigation into its safety are an increasingly complex mechanism of nicotine delivery, the scarcity of information provided by manufacturers, misleading warnings, the lack of regulations that countries impose on other products intended for human consumption and the speed with which new versions go on the market.

Specialists tend to think that e-cigarettes produce alterations in lung function, of course that acute changes in respiratory function, such as bronchoconstriction, are minor compared to those of the conventional cigarette. Some studies have shown that it causes asthma in children, as well as irritation of the eyes, throat and respiratory tract.

The main disadvantage of the electronic cigarette is that its long-term effects are not known. The effects of conventional tobacco are known: cancer, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, emphysema, etc. Now, after this death in the United States, studies on the use of these types of cigarettes should receive increased attention.