Electronic cigarette among young people and adolescents: a scourge that keeps growing

Every May 31, we celebrate World No Tobacco Day, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness harmful and fatal effects of tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke. The Argentine Heart Foundation joins this initiative to warn against a new tobacco-related scourge: the mbadive consumption of electronic cigarettes by teenagers and young adults. In addition, he warns against the role of the pbadive vapeador, with a potential damage quite similar to that of the active vapeador, to prohibit this practice in all confined spaces.

The fourth national survey on risk factors shows that in our country 1.1% of the population He claims to have used an electronic cigarette at some point in his life. But, these data mean more than just a number: for the first time in Argentina, e-cigarettes were considered a risk factor, along with hypertension, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, overweight, obesity, among others.

The electronic cigarette has become a phenomenon among young people today. In the United States, since 2014, its consumption is higher than that of industrial cigarettes among high school students and universities. and in 2018, more than 3.6 million students reported using electronic cigarettes. In our country, the epidemiological data provided by Sedronar's Sixth National Study on the Use of Psychoactive Substances among 12 to 65 year olds in 2017 showed that 4.5% of respondents have ever used electronic cigarettes in his life.

In Argentina, the sale of electronic cigarettes and their accessories has been banned by the National Drug, Food and Medical Technology Administration (ANMAT) since 2011 and this ban was confirmed in 2016.

Unfortunately, companies that manufacture electronic cigarettes use the broadest strategies to reach their target audience, one of them consisting of engaging influencers to promote their products on different social networks. But also, as detailed in a recent article in The New York Times, his negotiations they reach the highest spheres of power and in many American states, they came to negotiate with the representatives in the same way as the industrial cigarette.

The effect of nicotine

To understand what we are talking about, the "spare part" of the best-selling electronic cigarette in the United States contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of industrial cigarettes. These devices are able to release it much faster, reaching an early peak of nicotine in the body.

In Argentina, the sale of these cigarettes and their accessories has been banned by the National Drug, Food and Medical Technology Authority (ANMAT) since 2011 and this ban was confirmed in 2016. In the United States, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is in a strong campaign to limit the promotion and the sale of these products to minors.

For the first time in Argentina, the electronic cigarette was considered a risk factor, as well as high blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, overweight, obesity, among others.

Vaping among young people is fast becoming a mental health problem and is being badyzed by specialists in psychiatry. At the University of Southern California, specialists talk about addictive changes and alterations in brain function. The adolescent brain is much more vulnerable to the addictive effects of nicotine. The circuits of pleasure and the search for new experiences develop faster than circuits that favor decisions, control of impulses and rational thought.

A recent statement from the FDA indicated that, given the harm caused by nicotine, No young or young adult should consume it in any form. Even for adults, e-cigarettes are not considered a "healthy" alternative to industrial cigarettes. The potential carcinogenic effect is clear to the lungs and the entire respiratory tract and can also cause seizures.

The FDA launched in July 2018 a plan to limit and even avoid the use of any product of so-called nicotine release systems, regardless of its form, especially the electronic cigarette called JUUL. One of the most important measures is prohibit the sale of these products to minors (also online sales).

They started more than 17,000 civil lawsuits for the sale of tobacco-related products to minors. They contacted online sales companies to limit their catalogs and sales to minors. The FDA has contacted manufacturers to inform them of these measures and to request information on the toxicity and effects of their products. In the same way, it will intimidate companies that deceive young people with their consumption and marketing strategies.

For all this, from the Fundación Cardiológica Argentina, we reaffirm our responsibility to raise awareness of this problem and to promote all these campaigns discourage the consumption of tobacco-related products like electronic cigarettes.

The group from the University College of London has shown that it is possible to use electronic cigarettes in antismoking treatments. But we vigorously fight teenagers 'and young adults' access to these products as first contact with tobacco derivatives.

(*) Dr. Francisco José Toscano Quilon, cardiologist (MN 95.358). He wrote in collaboration with Dr. Carlos González Malla, Clinical Physician (MN 114.005). Both belong to the Argentine Heart Foundation (FCA)