Argentina’s national medicines and food authority issues warning: e-cigarettes are just as harmful a

Since 2011, the import, distribution, commercialization, and promotion of e-cigarettes have been prohibited in Argentina according to the National Medicines and Food Technology Administration (ANMAT), but this habit has gradually taken root among smokers who believe it is healthier than smoking. However, as health expert Patricia Fortina explains, "It is just as harmful as smoking."

E-cigarettes refer to the active inhalation of liquid that is heated and turned into vapor from a device. However, this liquid often contains nicotine or flavorings, which are toxic substances.

Fortina elaborated during an interview on the UPM program of Madryn Mitre Radio that when e-cigarettes first appeared, they were used as a smoking cessation aid until smokers quit the habit. "But people have become accustomed to e-cigarettes, and of course, it is as harmful as smoking. It can lead to cardiovascular events, lung damage, hypertension, severe pneumonia, and death due to severe respiratory failure, as well as tongue cancer, oral cancer, and throat cancer," she stated.

As the expert explained, initially, e-cigarettes contained higher concentrations of substances, which were gradually reduced as users weaned off the habit. "We must realize that the lung capacity and the chambers of the lungs are not prepared to receive smoke, vapor, or toxic substances. Therefore, anything that enters the lung chambers and reaches the lungs is toxic. This applies to aerosols, e-cigarettes, tobacco, and cannabis," Fortina emphasized.

She explained, "We must recognize that in smoking cessation treatment, there are some very important factors, one of which is addiction, regulated by neurotransmitters and chemicals in the brain that have a continuous supply and demand relationship. In this vicious cycle, it makes you crave, gives you satisfaction, and then makes you crave again. Another very important part is behavior. For example, holding something in your hand, smoking after meals, smoking when getting into a car. These habits and behaviors are related and need to be addressed differently."

Finally, research confirms that the damage caused by e-cigarettes is equally severe. "There is a very important piece of data that we must be cautious about: according to a study, 37% of high school students in the U.S. have tried e-cigarettes and cannabis e-cigarettes. Particularly among teenagers, the usage rate has significantly increased, and the damage is more severe among adolescents."