Lung Doctor Reveals Short-Term Risk And Long-Term Vape Use

Illustration of vape smoking man (Photo: Pexels/Ruslan Alekso)

JAKARTA - The use of vaping or e-cigarettes is increasingly popular among young people. Many think that vape is safer than conventional cigarettes, but various medical studies show that vape still poses a serious health risk, including nicotine dependence, lung disorders, and negative impact on the development of the youth's brain.

According to dr. Jaka Pradipta, Sp.P (K) Onk, Lung Specialist and Oncology Consultant Respiratory from Dharmais Cancer Hospital, both cigarettes and vape are equally dangerous.

"In contrast to being fun because of the lots of smoke, vape is very dangerous. It contains dangerous gases such as nicotine, glycol profiles, glycerol, heavy metal and taste that should enter the digestive tract but enter the breathing so that it interferes with breathing," explained dr. Jaka, quoted from the Instagram account of Dharmais Cancer Hospital.

Vape contains various harmful substances that can interfere with health. Nikotin plays a major role in causing addiction. In addition, there are glycol and glycerol propylene which is actually intended for oral consumption, but when entering the respiratory tract it can actually interfere with lung function.

Not only that, vape devices also have the potential to release heavy metals that are also inhaled into the body. In addition, the use of flavoring (flavoring) that should not be inhaled can cause irritation in the respiratory tract.

Vape smoke may look less than cigarettes, but the chemical content remains dangerous. The respiratory tract that should only receive clean air is actually entering toxic gases that can damage the lung structure.

"The use of vape consciously puts the toxine directly into the lungs. The previously small number of toxine levels, we intentionally add it to the respiratory tract. This will cause damage to the lung structure, and cause short-term inflammation into the long term. Even more dangerous things, the vapeter device is made of metal, which is also sucked into the body," he explained.

Impacts that can arise include:

- Short-term: Irritation of respiratory tract, cough, sore throat, dizziness, and nausea.

- Long-term: chronic lung inflammation, lung damage, popcorn lung disease (inflammatory in bronolulu), lung cancer, stroke, and heart attacks.