Doctors Advise Vapers to Regularly Check Blood Sugar Levels

The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has found that the number of vape users in Indonesia has now reached 4 million people. Based on research, vaping has several negative impacts on health, one of which is triggering diabetes.

According to BRIN, vape users experience a decline in the body’s ability to produce insulin. In BRIN’s findings, 100 per cent of the tested vape user samples were detected to be suffering from diabetes.

Responding to this, internal medicine specialist Dr Kasim Rasjidi considers these findings very concerning. According to his observations, the promotion of vapes has been very massive, especially among the youth. If left unchecked, this could become a real threat to national health.

“BRIN’s finding that there are 4 million electronic cigarette users is distressing, because the figure is very large. In my opinion, this is happening due to the massive promotion of vapes, which are regarded as a lighter alternative to traditional cigarettes. They are even considered ‘cool’. In reality, the impact is extraordinary, including triggering diabetes,” said Dr Kasim when contacted by Republika on Thursday (1/10/2026).

He went on to explain the mechanism by which electronic cigarettes or vapes trigger blood sugar disturbances and diabetes. According to Dr Kasim, this mechanism is primarily related to the nicotine content found in electronic cigarettes.

He explained that nicotine can reduce the sensitivity of body cells to insulin, which functions to help blood sugar enter cells to be used as energy. “Nicotine in vapes can reduce cell sensitivity to insulin, which is the key that opens the lock so that blood sugar can enter the cell to be used,” he said.

When body cells are less sensitive to insulin, sugar cannot enter the cells optimally and ultimately remains in the bloodstream. As a result, blood sugar levels can experience an increase.

Not only does it affect insulin sensitivity, but nicotine also has other mechanisms that can increase blood sugar levels. Nicotine can increase the production of stress hormones, namely adrenaline and cortisol. These two hormones then stimulate the liver to produce more sugar, which is released into the bloodstream.

“What occurs is that the rise in blood sugar levels happens through two pathways: cells that respond slowly even though the ‘lock’ has been opened by the insulin ‘key’, plus sugar from the liver triggered by adrenaline and cortisol hormones,” said Dr Kasim.