Easy task: doctors told about the main danger of "popcorn disease"
Specific methods of treatment and drug prevention of the so-called popcorn disease, which occurs due to smoking vapes, do not yet exist, Russian doctors have reported. The main danger of the disease is that it can cause serious damage to health, lead to disability, and in some cases be fatal. Theoretically, it is possible to develop a drug against harmful substances that come from smoke, but they are more or less present in the human body and participate in metabolic processes, said Alexander Ginzburg, head of the Sputnik V development institute. Earlier, the Department of Rospotrebnadzor in the Tomsk region warned that there had already been cases of diseases in the region that occurred in children after using such smoking mixtures. For more information about the disease of modern adolescents— see the Izvestia article.
What is "popcorn disease"?
The son of Sergey Popov, a resident of Tyumen, felt unwell for a month, and doctors could not diagnose him. The main problem is that there were no obvious symptoms of pneumonia, he told Izvestia.
— The child had an unjustified headache and weakness for a month, his blood pressure periodically jumped, which forced them to suspend their studies at school and begin a comprehensive examination. The suspicion of pneumonia was raised only by a cardiologist and, in fact, by chance: saturation in sitting and standing positions was normal, while lying down fell to 80-83%," said the source.
As a result, an emergency CT scan of the lungs was performed, which revealed the damage. The main danger is that there were no symptoms when listening.
"My son admitted that he actively tried vapes because they were fashionable among his peers, they bought them through ad aggregators,— added Sergey Popov.
As the doctors told the man, it could be about bronchiolitis obliterans, but such a diagnosis was not officially made. This disease is also called "popcorn disease," and officially it is called EVALI. On March 19, the Department of Rospotrebnadzor in the Tomsk region posted a message on its Telegram channel stating that smoking vapes and electronic cigarettes leads to "popcorn disease." It manifests itself in the form of inflammation, scarring, and narrowing of the bronchioles. It is detected by listening to the lungs, which emit a sound resembling the popping of popcorn, the ministry said in a statement.
"In Tomsk, there have already been cases of diseases that have occurred in adolescent children after using such smoking mixtures. This was reported by the media back in February," the regional Rospotrebnadzor added.
Vaper's disease, or EVALI, is an acute lung injury caused by the consumption of electronic cigarettes, Andrey Pozdnyakov, an infectious disease specialist at Invitro, reminded Izvestia.
— In the USA, the disease has been known since 2019. It has not been registered in Russia before," he said.
The symptoms of the disease, according to the doctor, are similar to acute respiratory viral infections. It is characterized by malaise, weakness, cough, shortness of breath and fever. The infectious disease specialist stressed that since the symptoms are very nonspecific and similar to colds, the disease is not easy to reliably diagnose.
— Pathological changes in the lungs, detected on CT as frosted glass, are similar to viral pneumonia, — added Andrey Pozdnyakov.
What is the main danger of vaper disease?
EVALI is a collective image of lung lesions associated with the use of vapes and electronic cigarettes, said Alexander Malov, market expert at NTI "Helsnet". According to the literature, pathoanatomic manifestations can be very diverse, including alveolitis, pneumonitis, and interstitial lesions. This is a "universal" negative response of the lungs to the effects of damaging factors. In the case of vapes and electronic cigarettes, these are products of thermal degradation of the liquid used.
"The most common complications are the addition of a secondary infection, the development of respiratory failure, up to acute respiratory distress syndrome, in which patients are unable to breathe without hardware support," he noted.
The statistics currently available indicate that the new EVALI disease can cause serious damage to health, lead to disability, and in some cases be fatal, said Andrey Martyushev-Poklad, a leading specialist in the NTI Helsnet market. Oils and other components of vaping liquids enter the lungs, damage them and cause an inflammatory response. This can contribute to allergic inflammation and the development of infections. In addition, due to changes in the bronchi and lung tissue, natural gas exchange is disrupted, which leads to hypoxia, he noted.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the diagnosis of the disease is difficult due to its similarity to other conditions, and there are no special studies, the expert added. The diagnosis is often made by the exclusion method when there is no improvement during treatment. The disease can be confused with bacterial pneumonia, in which antibiotics are prescribed, but such treatment will not help with EVALI.
— Theoretically, it is better to prevent any disease than to treat it.: it's an order of magnitude easier and cheaper. We need to figure out why a person uses vape and help them meet this need in a useful way. Most often, smoking is about the inability to manage stress," said Andrey Martyushev—Poklad, a leading specialist in the Healthnet NTI market.
Medicine and vaccine from EVALI
There are no statistics on the incidence of vaper's disease in Russia yet, as the first case of infection was officially identified only this year, said Maria Uyanaeva, chief physician of the UNI Clinic medical center. Prior to this, there had been isolated cases of a disease similar to vaper's disease, but such a diagnosis had not been made, she added.
The doctor noted that vapers' disease is being treated. But the patient's management tactics, according to her, depend on the severity of the lung lesion.
— Some require oxygen supply through a nasal cannula or a facial mask with severe hypoxia. With less lung damage, hormonal drugs and glucocorticosteroids are prescribed," said Maria Uyanaeva.
The expert stressed that there is currently no task in developing a drug or vaccine. But in theory, just as a vaccine against coronavirus infection was invented in a short time, they can also begin developing a specific drug for vaper's disease, if there is a request, she added.
In general, it is difficult to create a specific medicine at this stage, said Alexander Malov, market expert at NTI Helsnet.
—Only if chemists figure out something to make an inert liquid that doesn't thermally decompose," he said.
If we talk about the possibility of prevention and, for example, a vaccine against "popcorn disease", then, since this is a non-communicable disease, it is not possible to create such a drug, Albert Rizvanov, head of the Center for Excellence "Personalized Medicine" and the Research Institute "Gene and Cell Technologies" of KFU, told Izvestia. The main danger in electronic cigarettes is not even nicotine, but a chemical compound that is added to enhance the taste.
— It makes no sense to make a vaccine, it's a polluting substance, you just need to at least exclude these chemicals from e-cigarettes. As it turned out, they are very harmful if inhaled. The same glycerin has an extremely irritating effect, which can lead to inflammation of the lung tissue and the development of various pathologies," said the scientist.
It is impossible to create a vaccine against smoking conventional or electronic cigarettes, Alexander Gintsburg, director of the M.F. Gamalei Center, told Izvestia.
— Theoretically, it is possible to develop a drug against harmful substances that come from smoke, such as, for example, nicotine. But the difficulty is that they are more or less present in the human body and are involved in important metabolic processes, so we have a natural tolerance for them. It's much more reasonable to use propaganda so that people don't get carried away with bad habits," he said.
As for the epidemic, the incidence statistics from the example of other countries (China, USA), where the use of vapes has a longer history, indicates a direct relationship between the number of users and the frequency of cases of EVALI, so the situation is serious, experts stressed.
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