The number of e-cigarette deaths has continued to rise in the US. By Tuesday, 33 people had died in 24 US states after using electronic cigarettes, the health service told CDC.
The dead were on average 44 years old, the youngest 17, the oldest 75, reported the US Department of Health. In addition, there are nearly 1500 confirmed diseases almost throughout the country. A week earlier, the number of deaths had been 26, that of the disease at just 1300.
According to a recent assessment by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), in Germany users of e-cigarettes are not threatened with increased risks - provided they buy products that comply with European and German regulations. "Steamer" should nevertheless pay attention to symptoms such as breathing difficulties or chest pain, advises BfR President Andreas Hensel. "Especially after a product change."
The agency also warns against producing liquids themselves. Without adequate knowledge, the risk of self-mixing is that substances such as oils would be used, according to the BfR. This could lead to severe respiratory diseases when inhaled. So far, self-mixed e-liquids have been the cause of health problems in reports to German poison information centers.
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In the United States, hundreds of severe lung diseases, including respiratory distress, cough and chest pain, have been reported in a short period of time after vaporizing e-cigarettes. In part, gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, diarrhea or fever are added. In some cases the symptoms worsened within days and weeks so much that they have to be artificially ventilated.
Before the authorities attribute the diseases to e-cigarettes, they rule out, among other things, that those affected suffer from an infection or that there is a cardiological or rheumatic cause.
It is still unclear what leads to the diseases. There are indications that products containing THC - the main active ingredient in cannabis - could play a role in diseases and deaths. In the cases already studied, a majority of patients reported having used THC-containing products.
The complaints seem to be limited almost exclusively to users in the US - isolated cases have been reported in Canada. In Germany and throughout Europe, no similar increase in lung damage has been reported so far. Here, however, Liquds are also regulated more strictly.
