Young vapers a new risk group – COPD cannot be cured – 2024-02-20 11:09:10

COPD is one of the world’s most common and, on the other hand, easily preventable respiratory diseases. Its newest risk group is young vapers.

– The prevalence of underdiagnosed COPD in the Finnish population is about three percent. Many suffer from it without knowing it, says the specialist in clinical physiology and isotope medicine, LT Maria Juusela.

COPD is one of the most preventable public diseases. According to Juusela, who serves as the chairman of DAT, the Doctors Against Tobacco network, in addition to his bread work, it is first and foremost a disease of smokers.

– Although smoking has decreased over the past 30 years, other ways have taken their place, by which the airways are voluntarily exposed to vapors. The vast majority of e-cigarette products preferred by young people contain, in addition to highly toxic and highly addictive nicotine, many other chemical compounds proven to be harmful to health.

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Inhalable poisons

According to a study conducted by Yle last fall, the use of e-cigarettes had become more common even among the youngest respondents, i.e. 4th-5th graders, in every province of Ostrobothnia.

Yle studied e-cigarettes confiscated from young people in the laboratory of the University of Eastern Finland. Vaporized toxic glycerol and heavy metals such as copper, zinc and large amounts of lead were found in the samples.

According to Maria Juusela, the effects of nicotine and other poisons are significantly more significant and harmful in a developing young organism than in an adult. Few people willing to experiment think of the addictive nature of nicotine or its susceptibility to cancer.

According to Juusela, nicotine in the bloodstream affects from head to toe and weakens the functioning of the entire body.

– Since e-cigarettes are still a relatively new phenomenon, long-term evidence of their harms has not yet been accumulated. However, it is undeniable that tobacco and nicotine products are harmful and cause many problems for both young and older users. The youth should be actively informed about the harms of vaping before it has time to do permanent damage to the lungs of the next generation.

The explosive increase in the use of e-cigarettes caused the so-called e-cigarette pandemic in the USA in 2019, when hundreds of users died as a result of even short-term vaping. This set in motion the study of health hazards related to e-cigarettes and the preparation of laws related to their marketing and use.

– Doctors were informed about serious immediate lung reactions caused by vaping, in order to avoid similar deaths in other parts of the world, says Juusela.

Chronic cough and worsening shortness of breath

In population studies, even a few years of smoking have been found to cause a decrease in lung function and, with increasing age, increased sensitivity to bronchial constriction. As exposure continues, long-term chronic inflammation develops in the airways and lungs, leading to COPD.

The disease manifests as prolonged bronchitis. There is typically permanent narrowing of the airways and permanent tissue destruction in the lungs. A person with COPD suffers from a mucous cough and breathing difficulties, which worsen especially during infections.

– The most common symptom of patients who come to my office is increased shortness of breath. They have noticed that they gasp in activities where a guy of the same age can’t even catch his breath, explains Juusela, who runs a general practitioner’s office in Espoo’s Tapiola Lääkärikeskus Aava.

– Patients with COPD also get tired more easily than before. They say that the cough is daily and mucus comes up with it.

No curative treatment

According to Maria Juusela, early identification of COPD is extremely important in terms of preserving the health and ability to work of the individual and the population.

– If the patient has a history of smoking and is over 40 years old, his lung function should also be evaluated with spirometry and other diagnostic tests in connection with health checks and occupational health doctor visits. Smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke are also risk factors for lung cancer.

The initial symptoms of asthma and COPD are quite similar in adults. The difference between the diseases can be seen in examinations and at the reception in the severity of the treatment: the airways and lung tissue damaged in COPD do not heal with inhaled drugs. However, drug treatment can reduce daily symptoms, such as shortness of breath during exertion, and prevent exacerbations and periods of hospitalization.

– Exercise and smoking cessation slow down the progression of COPD and their impact on quality of life is significant. However, COPD is a progressive disease for which there is unfortunately no curative treatment. The best way to avoid getting sick is to live a smoke-free and nicotine-free life, Juusela concludes.