Risk of E-Cigarettes: Impact on Teen Asthma

According to a report by Medimagazin, Dr. Demet Can, Vice President of the Turkish National Allergy and Clinical Immunology Society, emphasized that e-cigarettes, whose age restrictions have been gradually lowered, pose a threat to teenagers as they double the risk of asthma and may worsen existing asthma conditions.

Professor Dmitry Zhan points out that e-cigarettes are electronic devices that rely on power sources to produce tobacco aerosols without burning tobacco. These devices include sensors, batteries, nicotine reservoirs, heating elements, glass fiber chips containing nicotine solutions, and reservoirs. Due to their convenience, e-cigarette use has significantly increased globally in recent years. He also states that the usage rate of e-cigarettes among adults is 6.5% in Spain and 8.5% in the United States.

Despite being marketed as less harmful than traditional tobacco, Professor Demet Jan states that e-cigarettes are often used as aids for quitting smoking or as smokeless tobacco alternatives. Recent research indicates that e-cigarette aerosol contains toxic substances such as tobacco-specific nitrosamines, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde.

Professor Demet Jan pointed out that inhaling nicotine solution in e-cigarettes can cause an increase in inflammatory cells in the airways, including eosinophils, which worsens asthma symptoms. This has been proven in animal experiments. At the same time, when inhaling e-cigarette vapor, it is possible to inhale glass fiber particles and nicotine, which may eventually result in exposure to glass fiber particles in the respiratory system. He also discovered that this process, combined with smoking, can lead to the production of toxic reactive oxygen species and SOD (an enzyme) by glass fiber particles, triggering asthma.

Lastly, Professor Demet Jan stated, "In a recent study, it was found that nanoparticles of tin, chromium, and nickel in e-cigarette vapor cause inflammatory reactions in the respiratory tract and lungs, potentially playing a significant role in the onset of asthma.