CANCER survivors and former smokers from the advocacy group New Vois Association of the Philippines have warned young Filipinos against getting hooked with vaping following various studies released in the United States this year about the harmful health effects of using e-cigarettes.
NVAP president Emer Rojas said the studies confirmed what health advocates have been saying all along—that e-cigarettes are also dangerous to people as smoking regular tobacco.
One study found that vaping daily is linked with twice the risk of heart attack while smoking regular tobacco increases the risk by three times, NVAP said.
“This belies what the vaping community was promoting—that e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to smoking. E-cigarettes must then be banned from public use until proper regulation be enacted.” Rojas said.
The study was recently presented by Stanton Glantz, lead author and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and also the director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.
Professor Glantz concluded that the risk of a heart attack was even higher for people who both smoke and vape every day.
Meantime, the largest report on the health effects of vaping found that while e-cigarettes may help adults to quit conventional smoking it can however encourage young people to start early.
The report was a result of studies done by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that found a host of evidence linking vaping to harmful substances such as nicotine which is the addictive substance in tobacco.
“One major finding of the report was that young people who vape are at a higher risk for ever using a conventional cigarette than their counterparts who don’t,” Rojas said.
Rojas cited a section of the study that revealed that people who vape get the same amount of nicotine as in conventional cigarettes depending on the device and the type of e-liquid that they use.
“As cancer survivors and former smokers who took up this dangerous habit when we were young, we are very concerned that e-cigarettes are being marketed to our youth as something that is cool, a trendsetter, without the benefit of knowing their health effects,” said Rojas.
Youth leaders from the Sigaw ng Kabataan Coalition aired their concern for the growing number of young people using e-cigarettes.
“It is quite alarming to see students and young people using e-cigarettes. Many think that e-cigarettes are safe but actually they may also pose risks as they become the new addictive craze that may harm the lungs,” said Ellirie Aviles, SKC president.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine aimed to address the lack of knowledge with a new report on e-cigs. Two key findings rafrom the report state that while vaping may help current adult smokers quit smoking conventional cigarettes, the practice may also encourage young people to start.