RCEA
Image default
Health

Unknown lung disease from e-cigarettes

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has advised young Americans and pregnant women not to use e-cigarettes because of a mysterious lung disease that has been diagnosed in multiple states. Furthermore, the urgent advice is not to use homemade or illegal products with an e-cigarette. In The New England Journal of Medicine, Jennifer Layden et al. report on 53 cases of unknown lung disease likely associated with e-cigarette use.

Rise in electronic smoking devices

As of April this year, 450 cases of people with lung disease possibly caused by electronic smoking devices have been reported in the US. Five people have died. Layden et al describe 53 cases of mainly young and previously healthy males (median age 19 years) who presented to the hospital with severe respiratory symptoms, in the period April-August 2019. The patients had dyspnoea, cough, chest pain. and hemoptysis. There were also gastrointestinal and general disease symptoms. In all patients, bilateral infiltrates were visible on chest X-ray. All but three patients were admitted. One in three had to be intubated and ventilated, one patient died.Mr-joy.co.uk the best e cigs for more information. Antibiotics failed, and there was no other evidence of infection. Pathological examination of biopsies in three patients showed different abnormalities. Nearly half of the patients had vaped both nicotine and THC products. (Vaping is inhaling the aerosol that is released when the liquid in an e-cigarette is heated.) The rest is just one of the two.

Further research should clarify the exact cause of the cases. There are many different e-cigarette liquids, with varying compositions. There is also evidence that many American cases of illness are associated with illegally obtained or homemade liquids.

RIVM has informed RTL Nieuws that no such cases are known in the Netherlands. This summer it was announced that an e-cigarette that is banned in Europe (the Juul) is available in the Netherlands. The liquid in Juul has a much too high nicotine content.