Introduction to Vaping-Related Lung Damage
Rare, serious cases of lung damage were reported in the United States. Health occupations are concerned about unknown long-term effects. Young people can be particularly susceptible to steam risks.
A 17-year-old girl in the United States was recently diagnosed with "popcorn lung" after she had been vaping for three years. This irreversible illness, known as bronchiolitis obliterans, scars the tiny bronchioles (air sacs) in the lungs, affecting a person’s ability to breathe.
Although rare, her case can indicate a broader problem. In 2019, almost 3,000 cases of e-cigarettes or vaping product use-associated lung injury were reported in the US, resulting in 68 deaths, mainly among teenagers and young adults.
The Risks of Vaping
Ocasional some of the most severe cases make the headlines, said Donal O’Shea, Professor of Chemistry at the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland. But what’s bubbling under all of this is the slow and longer damage that steam in her lungs suffers.
Although vaping is sometimes described as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, scientists are concerned about how little we know about its long-term effects on lung health.
What Happens When You Vape?
If you breathe through the mouthpiece of a vape, a battery activates a metal coil that heats up the liquid, creating an aerosol that is inhaled into the lungs. The vape fluid contains chemicals mixed with nicotine salts and flavors, creating thousands of potential chemical combinations when they are mixed together.
Nobody knows what happens when these heated connections are inhaled into the lungs. What has never been tested is setting these chemicals in a device, heating them, and inhaling them, said O’Shea. How you have made a connection or put a chemical in your body is very important in determining how poisonous it is.
Is Vaping Bad for Health?
The researchers are still learning about vaping’s effects on the human body, but patterns are emerging. Studies show that vaping causes inflammation in the lungs, with users reporting coughing, throat irritation, and shortness of breath.
Historically, it took decades of research to prove that smoking causes diseases. Unfortunately, it appears we are allowing the story to repeat itself in terms of vaping.
The Global Picture
Vaping is not just a trend in the USA. The World Health Organization reports that children worldwide have higher rates of vaping than adults, although extensive global data is still incomplete.
A recent study found that 16.8% of students in South Africa use vapes, much higher than the 2% who smoke traditional cigarettes. Vapes appeal to young people through attractive flavors and the widespread conviction that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
Is Vaping a Good Alternative to Traditional Smoking?
For adult smokers who want to quit, vapes are sometimes recommended as an alternative. However, for non-smokers, especially young people, vaping is associated with risks.
Vaping has been proposed as a magical recipe to solve the problem of smoking, and it is clearly not the solution, said O’Shea. It is essentially transferring an addiction to another addiction.
Nicotine, an important ingredient in most vapes, is addictive. Many teenagers report feeling fearful or irritated within hours after their last vape. Relatives of members of health professions are also affected by affected vapes. What we actually see is that younger people become very, very quickly addicted, said O’Shea.
