However, e-cigarettes are not so simple, there are countless harmful effects that users are not aware of.
The first harm to mention is addiction to users. As shared by S., you start to depend on Pod every time you need to focus on something. Similar to using Pods to relieve stress, relieve "cravings". This is one of the first signs of e-cigarette addiction. According to the Southeast Asian Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance. Although the content in Pod or Vape is less than that of traditional cigarettes, this substance will still be addictive for users, especially when used for a long time. E-cigarettes cause as many diseases as traditional cigarettes.
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In addition to the lungs, which are directly affected, e-cigarettes also cause countless diseases related to the brain, heart, and immune system. To the brain, the nicotine contained in e-cigarettes releases "pleasure" chemicals in the brain, causing long-lasting and dangerous chemical changes that are addictive. In addition, users may experience headaches, dizziness or tremors.
For students, vaping has direct and long-term effects on the brain area, especially the prefrontal cortex - an area that thrives in middle school and high school students. These brain regions deal with cognitive and emotional processes, motivation, planning, and attention. Therefore, young people often show signs of reduced attention and concentration, poor decision-making ability, personality changes and many erratic actions, severe learning impairment.
With the heart, after using e-cigarettes, the heart rate and blood pressure climb, making the heart "plow" harder to bring enough blood and oxygen to the cells, in the long run, users have put themselves at risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. As for the immune system, a study has shown that e-cigarettes "disable" hundreds of key immune genes, wreaking more havoc on the immune system than traditional smoking.
E-cigarettes also have a significant effect on the people around them. For children, nicotine in e-cigarettes harms brain development in children, possibly causing memory impairment. For pregnant women, nicotine also adversely affects the health of the mother and fetus during pregnancy, causing premature birth and stillbirth.
