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Vaping isn’t as safe as you thought it to be

Vaping isn’t as safe as you thought it to be
Vaping refers to then act of inhaling a vapour created by an electronic cigarette or other vaping devices. © Shutterstock

Trying to quit smoking? Electronic cigarettes might not be the best choice. Read on to know how vaping affects asthma patients.

Written by Paras Hemrajani |Published : October 17, 2019 8:26 PM IST

We all know that smoking causes asthma. But what if you're told that the so-called alternative to smoking can aggravate the condition of an asthma patient? Yes, we are talking about vaping here. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, says that vaping can aggravate asthma symptoms. First hand smoking and vaping are a complete no-no for asthma patients, according to CDC. Their guidelines also suggest that second-hand smoking and vaping can have long-term health effects on an asthma patient.

For people who are trying to quit smoking, electronic cigarettes are a popular alternative. These are battery-powered devices that contain nicotine and produce a smoke. They are considered better than regular cigarettes because they have less amount of nicotine in them. However, there is no scientific evidence to prove that electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes are good for your health. In fact, there has been a raging debate about the health impacts of vaping in recent times. Vaping related diseases are on the rise, globally. Recently, several cases of vaping-relation breathing ailments have been reported in the US.

HOW DOES VAPING WORSEN ASTHMA?

Starting from making your breathing difficult to irritating your airways, e-cigarettes can aggravate the symptoms of asthma in more ways than one.

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Leads to breathing difficulties According to the findings of a 2018 study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH), US, if the effects of traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes on the cardiopulmonary symptoms of asthma are compared there is no difference. Smoke from e-cigarettes is equally bad in intensifying cardiopulmonary symptoms of asthma such as breathing difficulty.

Irritates the airways

Whether or not you have asthma, vaping can cause irritation in your airways. If you have asthma, your symptoms like coughing and trouble breathing will become worse. If you don't have asthma, then vaping can increase the presence of additives in your airways, making you cough and vomit. It will take an asthma patient twice as long to recover from this kind of irritaion than those without the condition.

Swell up the airways

According to another study published by the NIH, smoke from both nicotine-loaded cigarettes and nicotine-free e-cigarettes cigarettes can cause airway inflammation. Airway inflammation can affect the immune functions of your lungs and nasal passageway. This was a mouse-model research. However, so more research is needed to confirm the of vaping on human airways.

OTHER SIDE EFFECTS OF VAPING

Other than increasing the symptoms of asthma, vaping comes with other side effects. Sore throat and mouth, dry throat and mouth, gum problems, coughing, dehydration, headache, dizziness, nausea and stomach ache are some of the common short-term side effects that have been reported by people smoking e-cigarettes. Side effects of vaping varies from person to person. According to another study in the NIH, these short- term side effects of vaping are caused due to the presence of different chemicals like nicotine, glycerine, and propylene glycol (PG).