Paris (AFP)
Smokers who plan to switch to e-cigarettes "instead of tobacco should not hesitate," said Thursday the Academy of Medicine, noting that this product "useful for stopping smoking" is better controlled in France than in France. United States.
The institution is concerned about the potential adverse effects of the "confidence crisis" in vaping linked to the "sudden epidemic of pulmonary diseases" in the United States and the cautious World Health Organization report ( WHO), considering e-cigarettes as "undeniably harmful".
According to a BVA survey conducted for the Sovape pro-vaping association in September, 3 in 5 French people now think that vaping is at least as dangerous as smoking, contrary to the scientific consensus.
"This crisis of confidence could cause the death of thousands of smokers while tobacco kills half of its loyal consumers," the academy feared in a statement.
She argues that in France, "electronic cigarettes are standards of quality and safety, unlike the United States", and that the "main cause" of the epidemic of lung disease in the United States is a "diversion" of the use of electronic cigarettes with "harmful content" (probably a vitamin E oil added in cannabis refills sold on the black market).
The academy adds that vaping "helps to stop and reduce the consumption of tobacco" and stresses that in France there is no "misuse" of this product by minors, as it is the case on the other side of the Atlantic, because of a "lack of regulation".
Vaping is the process of inhaling vapors created by high temperature heating of a liquid inside the electronic cigarette.
Most liquids contain nicotine. This highly addictive substance also found in tobacco can affect brain development before age 25 and, according to some studies, have a detrimental effect on that of adults.
On the other hand, vaping fluids do not include many dangerous substances found when smoking tobacco, such as tar (carcinogenic) or carbon monoxide (cardiovascular disease factor).
But the vapor contains fine particles that penetrate the lungs. There are "many potentially toxic substances," concluded a report of the American Academies of Science, published in 2018. However, it will be necessary to wait for studies over several decades to be certain of the long-term effects of these substances on the cells of the United States. body.
© 2019 AFP