compass – monitor

Consultant in chest and respiratory diseases, Dr. Muhammad Hassan Al-Tarawneh, warned against the spread of electronic cigarettes among adolescents and children.

Al-Tarawneh said in remarks that were monitored.compassThrough his Facebook account, the prevalence of electronic cigarette smoking among adolescents and children has increased significantly in our society, as it is sold to adolescents without controls or accountability.

Al-Tarawneh indicated that the Ministry of Health had signed a tobacco control agreement with the World Health Organization, whose provisions stipulate the prohibition of smoking inside public facilities and the prohibition of selling tobacco products to persons under eighteen.

And he indicated that international studies and research indicate that there is a close link between electronic smoking and the change that occurs in the lung tissue. According to a study conducted by the Australian National University and its results were published in the Australian Medical Journal, electronic cigarette smokers inhale a complex fabric of chemicals, as it contains 240 chemicals. 40 substances were classified as having great harm to health, especially to the lungs.

Tarawneh wondered: “Who protects our children from this scourge, and who bears responsibility for that, despite the Ministry of Health’s ratification of the tobacco control agreement with the World Health Organization, whose provisions stipulate the prohibition of smoking inside public facilities, and the prohibition of selling tobacco products to those under the age of eight.” ten, but that has become a dead letter.”

Opinion polls in both the United States of America and the United Kingdom show a significant increase in the proportion of electronic cigarette smokers, especially among adolescents and school students.

Al-Tarawneh said that a new medical term called “lung disease resulting from electronic smoking” appeared, as the UK government set out a plan worth three million pounds to combat the illegal sale of electronic cigarettes among children.

Tarawneh called on the Ministry of Health to protect children and adolescents from the harm of electronic cigarettes.

tobacco company strategies

The internist, Dr. Adam Batayneh, considered electronic cigarettes or “vape” to be the last strategy of tobacco companies to preserve their users, especially young people, by marketing them as “less harmful” than regular smoking.

Al-Batayneh pointed out that companies began marketing light or mild tobacco products when awareness of the harmful effects of smoking began to rise in the past decades.

He stressed that electronic smoking, vape, is very widespread in Jordan.

AndRegarding the effect of electronic cigarettes on the heart, Dr. Al-Batayneh mentioned the following:

• In the short term, it causes high blood pressure and a rapid heartbeat (like regular smoking).
• In the long term, it causes hardening of the arteries and changes in the cells of the arteries (animal studies because there are no long-term studies on humans).
• On the lungs: irritation and inflammation of the bronchi, obstruction, stiffness and swelling of the lungs.
• The idea that it is less harmful than regular cigarettes is stupid and just marketing.

smoker robot

Given the difficulty in verifying the effects of e-cigarette smoking on mouse models; Because their nasal passages are different compared to humans, the researchers developed a robot that can complete this task without the need for animal models, as it has the following capabilities:

Accurately simulating temperature, humidity, jet volume and duration in humans.

This device can also simulate a healthy or unwell breathing pattern, as well as reliably predict e-cigarette-related lung toxicity.

Measure the size and number of volatile particles generated and how they vary depending on the liquid composition.

The harmful effects of the aerosol particles can then be tested on the engineered lung, quickly yielding high-quality data that can be used to infer potential toxicity.

How is the lung damaged?
In exclusive statements to Sky News Arabia, the senior author of the study, Dr. Cambies Benam from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, explains the conclusion of the experiments conducted by the research team through the innovative robot, saying:

Adding the extremely popular menthol flavoring to cigarette liquid produces a much larger number of aerosol particles that one can take into one’s lungs by vaporizing them.

Aerosols are known to contain many harmful substances such as nicotine and multifunctional carbonyls, including the highly dangerous compound formaldehyde.

The increased amount of aerosol particles from e-cigarette smoking, due to the addition of menthol flavoring, is expected to have multiple harmful consequences for the lungs.