Brazilian doctors warn that vaping is triggering a new type of lung disease

According to the Telephone Survey Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases (Vigitel 2023), the Brazilian city of Campo Grande is one of the state capitals with the highest number of smokers. The survey shows that 16.9% of smokers in the city are men, while 8.6% are women.

However, doctors are concerned not only about traditional cigarettes. As the number of vaping device users in the city increases, specialists are warning about a new type of lung disease caused by e-cigarettes: EVALI, short for "e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury."

Henrique Ferreira de Brito, a pulmonologist at the Campo Grande Integrated Health Care Center, said healthcare professionals are waging a “crusade” against vaping devices because they may be even more harmful than conventional cigarettes.

Electronic smoking devices (DEF) may not burn tobacco, but they can contain higher levels of nicotine than “regular” cigarettes, leading to stronger and faster addiction.

Dr. Brito said: “Vaping devices cause stronger dependence because of their nicotine content and nicotine’s ability to reach the brain more quickly, as well as the addictive effects of additives used by the pharmaceutical industry. So in addition to nicotine itself, which is already harmful, there are other substances that differ from those in traditional cigarettes and can seriously harm health.”

The specialist also said these substances are associated with various diseases, including heart disease, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and EVALI.

The São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp) published an article outlining the history of this new illness, which was first identified in the United States in April 2019.

At the time, “young adults in their 20s, many of whom had no prior history of lung problems, developed symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain, often accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, and weight loss.”

According to the historical record, all of the patients had one thing in common: they used e-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes. In Brazil, cases of EVALI have already been recorded, even showing typical features similar to the viral pneumonia caused by Covid-19.