Aside from lung disease and other potentially fatal health problems associated with the use of e-cigarettes, new studies have also linked eye problems to use of the devices, a Taipei doctor said.
A study by the American Academy of Ophthalmology linked e-cigarettes with the development of glaucoma and macular degeneration, Taipei Veterans General Hospital physician Lai Chih-kuan (賴志冠) said last week.
The chemicals in the oil used in e-cigarette devices were found to affect the eyes in ways similar to those found in traditional tobacco products, he said, adding that the oil’s nicotine content might also lead to high blood pressure, hastened heart beat and insulin resistance — a condition in which the body’s cells ignore the signal from insulin to extract sugar from the bloodstream for use as fuel.
Those who use e-cigarette products were also four times more likely to develop xerophthalmia — abnormal dryness of the conjunctiva and cornea of the eye, Lai said, citing the academy’s research.
Xerophthalmia is generally a precursor to more serious eye problems, he said.
One of the primary reasons that e-cigarettes might be so harmful to the eyes is that their ingredients cause the retinal veins to contract, Tri-Service General Hospital ophthalmologist Lu Da-wen (呂大文) said.
E-cigarette use in Taiwan is comparatively low, but the majority of users are younger, which means the harmful effects of the devices might not be seen as quickly, Lu said.
Younger people should not use e-cigarettes, as doing so might make them more likely to develop glaucoma when they get older, he said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods