Is Vaping a Sensible Alternative or Lucrative Trap?

Sri Lakshmi Ajit^*
*Correspondence: Sri Lakshmi Ajit, Department of Biotechnology, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India, Email:

Editorial

Despite these significant efforts, tobacco use continues to send 6 million individuals to the afterlife prematurely each year, making it the leading cause of preventable disease worldwide, owing in part to the quarter-century wait between smoking and the repercussions. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is responsible for up to two million fatalities each year; smoking is responsible for 80% of lung cancer deaths, with small cell lung cancer accounting for even more (SCLC). Cardiovascular illness accounts for a third of the remaining tobacco-related deaths, followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

On top of that, there are a slew of morbidities, including an increase in the risk of neurological illness, periodontal disease, and in utero developmental abnormalities of the foetal respiratory apparatus, brain, and cardiovascular system. Although cigarette smoking has decreased in highincome countries recently, the effect is muted on a worldwide basis.

However, in 2003, a new player joined the field: the "electronic cigarette," which is neither a pipe nor a cigarette, despite the fact that it can be sold in both shapes, but rather an electronic device that allows nicotine ingestion without the use of tobacco. The concept isn't entirely new; a device that produces flavoured steam was previously developed but never implemented due to the success of traditional smoking.

Almost half a decade later, it's been reimagined as a batterypowered filament that heats nicotine and flavouring compound mixture to produce an aerosol that can be inhaled. It landed on much more fertile ground after entering the US and European markets in 2006, when the concept was duplicated and diversified.

A fascinating social phenomenon, possibly fuelled by the increasing social stigma of cigarette smoking and the strong community feeling generated by virtual platforms, resulted as a result of clever marketing as a safer alternative to conventional smoking, legal loopholes in tobacco use restrictions, and a fascinating social phenomenon, possibly fuelled by the increasing social stigma of cigarette smoking and the strong community feeling generated by virtual platforms. E-cigarettes have been promoted through celebrity endorsement, emphasising the sexual appeal, or targeting the youth, strikingly similar to the tobacco industry's aggressive marketing techniques in the past.

They then investigate the chemical makeup of the liquid inside the devices. When compared to cigarettes, the amount of compounds included is far lower, as is the concentration of several dangerous compounds. Nanoparticles, heavy metals, formaldehyde, acetone, and other hazardous chemicals are all present in the aerosol. Most significantly, the devices still contain significant levels of nicotine, which has been proven to have negative effects on brain development, cognitive function, and the cardiovascular system.

Several studies have found that traditional smoking is linked to changes in the oral, lung, and gut microbiome, as well as disorders like Crohn's disease and periodontitis. The authors concentrate on the oral microbiota in this paper, despite the fact that current research on the effects of e-cigarette usage is inconclusive.

The most serious warning came from a series of cases of severe respiratory issues (EVALI), which resulted in hospitalizations and deaths. Ironically, the corpus delicti is a vitamin: alpha tocopherol, also known as vitamin E, which is certainly not intended to wind up in the lungs, but other hazardous compounds are likely to contribute.

The notion that e-cigarettes can help people stop smoking, which is how they were first sold in some countries, is dubious. They emphasise that, using the United States and the United Kingdom as examples, variations between research are highly associated to varying levels of restriction-enforcement and public opinion of e-cigarette smoking.

The COVID-19 pandemic has just provided further evidence for this claim. Nicotine has been demonstrated to interfere with the renin-angiotensin system, which includes the SARS-CoV-2- binding angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor.

In a summary, no conclusive judgement on e-cigarettes can be made yet, at least in terms of a clear comparison to traditional nicotine consumption — the wide variety of products, user habits, and differences in how countries approach regulation affect the coherence of studies. Furthermore, similar to traditional smoking, many health impacts may likely take a decade or two to appear. It is, however, far from a harmless sport, since it can lead to addiction in young people, raise the chance of serious lung injury, and have other severe, yet unknown negative consequences.