Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen 'red alert' about e-cigarettes: Minors are as vulnerable as elderly people who have been addicted to drugs for a long time

Electronic cigarettes (ELCs) are a serious health threat, especially among young people, with acute poisoning cases becoming increasingly complex and severe. Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen - Director of the Poison Control Center (Bach Mai Hospital) warned of a worrying trend when this product causes multi-organ damage and new-generation drug addiction, "turning the lungs of young people into the lungs of long-term smokers".

- Doctor, Bach Mai Hospital's Poison Control Center has just treated a case of poisoning related to e-cigarettes. Can you give us specific information about the patient's condition when he was admitted to the hospital and now?

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen: The latest patient we received and treated was a 17-year-old male. Initially, after using TLĐT, he fell into a coma, had convulsions, and had to be treated intensively. What is worrying is that the patient developed kidney failure very quickly, due to direct damage from the chemicals in TLĐT. The TLĐT sample he smoked showed two new-generation synthetic drugs. Fortunately, he was treated promptly and regained consciousness, and his kidney function gradually recovered.

However, through careful investigation, we found alarming information about the history of use: the child started using electronic cigarettes at the age of 13, then a year later (at the age of 14) switched to using regular cigarettes, and continued using both until the age of 17. As a result, when examined, the child's lungs showed severe ventilation dysfunction, and the airways were severely affected. This shows that the combination of both old cigarettes and electronic cigarettes has turned a young person's lungs into lungs with obstructive pulmonary disease, no different from the lungs of elderly people who have smoked for many years.

- Can you share more about the trend in the number of cases related to e-cigarettes that the hospital has received recently?

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen: Before 2024, the number of patients with acute poisoning related to TLĐT treated at the Poison Control Center will be very large, up to hundreds of patients every year, with patients coming for treatment every day.

However, Resolution No. 173/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly has had a very strong impact, significantly reducing the number of emergency responders. Since the beginning of 2025, there have been days when we have had no patients, and there have been months when we have only received 1 to 3 cases.

What is worrying is that, since October, we have witnessed the number of patients with acute TLĐT poisoning tending to increase again and the situation is becoming more and more complicated. This is a very alarming situation because in addition to the very severe acute poisoning, there are also hidden and silent signs of disorder and damage inside the user's body, affecting the health of young people very quickly.

- Doctor, what are the important points to note about the damage caused by e-cigarette poisoning and the treatment of these cases?

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen: Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products basically contain three main toxic ingredients.

The first is nicotine, a toxic and addictive substance that meets all the criteria of a narcotic. Nicotine is artificially synthesized, easily introduced in higher doses, causing toxicity to all organs from the brain, heart, lungs, endocrine, digestive, reproductive and causing cancer in many places.

Second, there are thousands of completely new chemical additives and flavorings that have not been evaluated for toxicity, and they create many other toxic combustion substances. Typical examples are Vitamin E Acetate-induced acute lung injury (EVALI), or substances similar to those in environmental pollution exhaust fumes.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen shared with reporters of Vietnam Law Newspaper.

Third, this is the most complex problem, they contain hundreds of new generation synthetic drugs. Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco are the main storage environment for new types of cannabis and synthetic drugs. These substances are created very quickly, easily exceed the control and testing list, have strong effects on the nervous system, mind, cardiovascular system and are addictive. The diversity of chemicals and drugs makes treatment and addiction treatment extremely complicated, even more difficult than with old cigarettes.

- Many young people believe that e-cigarettes are "less toxic than regular cigarettes". What is the doctor's opinion on this statement?

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen: We must make it very clear: All propaganda and advertisements that say that e-cigarettes are for the purpose of reducing or quitting smoking are lies and deception. E-cigarettes are a mixture of artificial chemicals containing nicotine - a toxic substance that was once banned as a pesticide - and many types of drugs.

For addictive substances and drugs, it is not allowed to talk about dosage or content. The characteristic of addictive substances is that even with a very low dose at first, users will quickly smoke more and gradually increase the dose. Thousands of studies around the world have clearly demonstrated: E-cigarettes do not reduce toxicity, but on the contrary, they increase the risk of nicotine addiction, increase the risk of using conventional cigarettes, and worsen health problems. This is just advertising, even a strong intervention of the tobacco industry.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen informs about some poisoning cases related to electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

- According to the doctor, to prevent and combat the harmful effects of e-cigarettes among young people today, what solutions should the health sector and the community focus on?

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen: The most important solution is the policy of the Party, the State and the Management Agency. We must completely eliminate electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco and N2O gas (laughing gas) from the market and life. 2025 is the golden time, the turning point to make the decision to ban.

I recommend that all laws being drafted, such as the amended Investment Law or the amended Disease Prevention Law... must go hand in hand with Resolution 173 of the National Assembly; that is, there must be content prohibiting the production, trading, circulation and use of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and N2O gas for recreational purposes. If we do not stop it now, it will take root, spread widely, and cause addiction to the entire population, and we will not be able to solve it anymore, the consequences will be extremely terrible.

- What are the doctors' recommendations for people who have used e-cigarettes and young people in general?

Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen: For the people, especially the young people, the most important thing is to be clearly aware: The nature of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco and laughing gas also contains drugs with full meaning. Therefore, you must absolutely stay away from them, do not try them even once.

Young people should also not stand next to people using these products, because the smoke and exhaust contain addictive substances and drugs. This is to avoid drugs and to choose friends to play with, to avoid being lured.

The government needs to have a comprehensive ban policy to protect people's health, because if we let electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products explode and take root in community life and among young people, we will no longer be able to solve the problem.

- Thank you very much, Doctor!

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/ts-bs-nguyen-trung-nguyen-bao-dong-do-ve-thuoc-la-dien-tu-nguoi-chua-thanh-nien-ton-thuong-nhu-nguoi-gia-nghien-thuoc-lau-nam.html