Doctors talked about the symptoms and ways to treat the "popcorn disease"
Doctors attribute the increase in severe lung lesions in vaping users to the so—called "popcorn disease," a condition previously identified in food industry workers. Today, a similar clinical picture is increasingly being observed in young people using e-cigarettes. All the details are in the Izvestia article.
The danger of vaping for the respiratory system
According to Alexander Lavrishchev, chief physician of one of the branches of the Semeynaya clinic, dozens of cases of severe pneumonia have been reported in various states of the United States among young people using electronic cigarettes and devices for heating liquids, including those with cannabinoids. The peculiarity of the situation was that during the examination, the patients showed no signs of infections that could explain such severe lung damage.
Lavrishchev, in an interview with Izvestia, clarified that the results of computed tomography played a key role in the diagnosis.
"During the laboratory examination, it was not possible to find signs of infections, and on the CT scan of the lungs there were characteristic changes, traces of soaking of the pulmonary alveoli with inflammatory contents and oils, as if wax had been poured into the sponge," he explained.
The first case of the disease in Russia
According to Anna Buchneva, a pulmonologist at the GMS Clinic, the disease associated with the use of electronic vaporizers began to spread in the Russian Federation as vaping became more popular among the population. According to official data, the first patient with such a diagnosis in the country was registered in 2021.
Buchneva clarified to Izvestia that the first victim was a young man. The patient was admitted to the Morozov hospital for treatment, where doctors recorded a characteristic lesion of lung tissue.
Threat to the oral cavity
Victoria Mordvintseva, a dentist-therapist at the scientific dentistry "Dentistoff", warned in a conversation with Izvestia that the harm from vaping extends to the oral cavity. The main problem is dryness, as a decrease in saliva production disrupts the natural protection of teeth and mucous membranes. This leads to plaque accumulation, gum inflammation, increased sensitivity, and the development of caries. Nicotine in liquids also negatively affects the developing brains of young people.
She stressed that teenagers and young people remain a particularly vulnerable group. According to her, they are the ones who start using vapes more often because of the taste additives and the widespread opinion that they are supposedly less harmful than cigarettes.
"The first thing that vaping users encounter is dry mouth. And this is not just an unpleasant symptom. Saliva protects teeth and mucous membranes: It washes away some of the plaque, helps neutralize acids and maintains a normal balance in the oral cavity. When there is less saliva, the gums become inflamed more easily, and the teeth become more vulnerable to caries," the dentist concluded.
Factors of disease development
Lavrishchev added that according to the clinical picture, this condition resembled the so-called "popcorn disease" previously described in food industry workers who came into contact with oil vapors. In the scientific literature, the disease is called EVALI (E-cigarette or Vaping Associated Lung Injury), a lung lesion associated with the use of electronic cigarettes.
According to the doctor, at the first stage, specialists could not accurately determine the cause of the pathology. Various factors were considered: high smoking intensity, a combination of conventional cigarettes and vapes, the influence of flavors and components of liquids.
"Initially, it was not clear what exactly causes the disease," Lavrishchev said.
Later, research showed that vitamin E acetate, which is used in vaping liquids as a cheaper component compared to other oils, makes a significant contribution to the development of EVALI. These conclusions have been confirmed, among other things, by experiments on animal models.
The expert stressed that the increase in the number of cases is directly related to the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes. According to experts, the number of patients with such complications has increased by about 30% in recent years. At the same time, according to Lavrishchev, we are not talking about the appearance of a fundamentally new disease.
"We are faced with the fact that vaping is becoming more and more popular, including due to the high prices of cigarettes and the desire of smokers not to smell like an ashtray," he explained.
Treatment methods and medical care
As Buchneva noted, since the disease is relatively new, doctors need time to monitor patients and find the most effective treatment regimens. Thus, damage to the lung tissue in this case is not associated with infection, so the use of antibiotics in the absence of concomitant infectious processes does not make sense.
"But to stop this acute pulmonary injury, glucocorticosteroids are usually used. In other words, there are special specific hormones that, accordingly, fight the issue of acute inflammation that occurs in our lung tissue," the specialist explained.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
