E-cigarettes and Vaping: A Smoking Cessation Method or Another Smoking Innovation?

The prevalence of using e-cigarettes (vaping) has risen rapidly since its introduction in 2007, mostly among male youth. Although research on the health risks of e-cigarettes is still limited, there is growing evidence of debilitating pulmonary conditions and general immune weakness from e-cigarettes, leading to various infections. Moreover, there are concerns that vaping could be used as a new model of cannabis consumption, increasing cannabis addiction among adolescents. With well-known health risks from traditional smoking, e-cigarettes are viewed as a safe way of smoking, appealing more to youth. Additionally, extensive e-cigarette marketing boosted by the internet and fame has resulted in worries that e-cigarettes can lead to a renormalization of cigarette smoking and can be used as a new method to consume vaporized drugs. Although the concern that e-cigarettes are as harmful as traditional smoking has been raised, youth and most healthcare providers remain relatively unaware. Therefore, this review explored the association between e-cigarettes and traditional smoking. With the introduction of e-cigarettes in the last two decades, the topic is still new and less studied. Therefore, this review will help us understand the topic to better care for e-cigarette smokers and reduce the increasing public health burden from vaping.

The Association Between Maternal Age and the Prevalence of Congenital Heart Disease in Newborns from 2016 to 2018 in Single Cardiac Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are suggested to be associated with advanced maternal age in different ethnicities and geographical locations. To provide a profound ground for comparison with Saudi Arabian population, in this study, we have assessed the association between maternal age and congenital heart diseases for different age groups during the period from 2016 to 2018 in King Abdul-Aziz Medical City in Jeddah. In this case-control study, we found no evidence relating maternal age to the incidence of CHD. However, an association between maternal age and the type of CHD was found. Mothers who are 35 years old or younger are more likely to have a baby with atrial septal defects, while babies of mothers who are older than 35 presented mostly with ventricular septal defects and patent ductus arteriosus. Therefore, no modification to the local clinical practice, including a referral of patients for fetal echocardiography based on maternal age, is recommended.