What starts as a playful, curious puff can quickly snowball into a crippling addiction. Electronic vaporizers, originally invented to help wean cigarette smokers off of their nasty habit, have become a new nasty habit of their own. Due to their sleek design, enticing flavors, and social prevalence, many find themselves addicted to nicotine via these seemingly harmless devices. Now, what makes these devices “seemingly harmless”? Many believe that they are inhaling solely water vapor, flavoring, and nicotine into their lungs when they take a puff of an electronic vaporizer. Even if that were the case, anything other than true oxygen is unideal for inhalation.
What are vapes really composed of? Aside from the highly addictive nicotine chemical that toys with the reward system of the brain, ultrafine particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, as well as diacetyl which has lineage to severe lung disease, volatile organic compounds, and even heavy metals. Nickel, tin, and lead have all been found in e-liquids.
The seemingly harmless puff of a vape has severe consequences in the long run. Due to the popularity of this drug amongst adolescents, we will focus more on the effects for users under the age of twenty-five. For starters, brain development is not complete until the age of twenty-five. Nicotine and other drugs toy with the decision-making cortex of the brain otherwise known as the prefrontal cortex. The poor decisions as a result of the damage to this portion of the brain could lead to further drug use in the future. Also, nicotine addiction, mood disorder, and lower impulse control are all consequences of damage to this part of the brain. Aside from diacetyl, formaldehyde, and acrolein are also found in vapes. Formaldehyde can cause lung and heart disease. Acrolein, commonly used as a weed killer, also causes immense damage to lungs.
What can happen to your lungs? Popcorn lung is a term for bronchiolitis obliterans, which results in the damage of small airways within the lungs. Popcorn lung got its name from factory workers getting sick from inhaling diacetyl. The symptoms of popcorn lung include coughing, wheezing, chest pain, and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is also a possibility with vaping, which can also turn into a chronic issue over time. On the more extreme sides, vaping can cause collapsed lungs and lung cancer as well. It would be a real shame for your eye opening experience to quit having a collapsed lung and being rushed to the hospital.
What has been done to help fix the vaping phenomenon in adolescents and what is the best advice? The FDA has banned the sale of flavored e-juices and vapes in many states to halt the appeal to younger audiences by the means of fruity, or candy-like flavors. This does not help much due to the everlasting accessibility of these drugs amongst our society. The best advice is to never touch these drugs due to how addictive they are - some believe harder to kick than heroin. If you are addicted, find a method that works for you whether it be a nicotine patch, cold turkey, or even a rehabilitation program. Quitting is in everybody’s best interest for the long term.
Sources:
https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/what-does-vaping-do-to-your-lungs
Edward Khouri (3)
This is a really interesting topic considering the amount of people our age that are using e-cigarettes. I had no idea of the amount of harmful substances that are present in e-cigarettes and only assumed it was mostly just water vapor. Thanks for bringing light to this topic as many people could learn from the harmful effects of vaping
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the late response; for, there were technical difficulties. However, a main reason I settled on this topic is due to its prevalence in today's society, especially in our age range.
DeleteHi Edward!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. The long term effects of vaping are still unknown. But like stated in your article, ongoing studies have already found there to be many affects on the body from vaping. Again, great post!
Sarah Conant
I think this is a really important article. Many of my friends are addicted and spend crazy amount of money each week on these devices while simultaneously endangering their health. I also think it is especially unfortunate because before e-cigs and vapes, our generation was almost the first to really cut back on nicotine usage.
ReplyDeleteYes, although unfortunate it is important we are informed. Also, I am a firm believer that nicotine companies noticed us breaking the cyclic addiction, and found a way to rope consumers back in via these flavors and devices. Sadly, the FDA was too slow on limiting the flavors.
DeleteI agree completely! It was crazy to see how popular vaping became during the mid 2010s, when I was in freshman and sophomore year of high school. It went from one or two kids vaping to dozens of people vaping, selling cartridges, and passing around vape pens. At this time, long term health effects of vaping were unknown, so many people blissfully vaped, assuming it was safe. Now many people have dependencies on nicotine and face some of the negative side effects of long-term vaping.
ReplyDelete-Alan Papenfuhs
Hello, I think your article touches a very important topic as you have addressed, vaping has become very popular amongst our society and people should be aware of the harms this habit can cause.
ReplyDelete- Tugba Kahveci
I agree with you, vaping seems to be a problem especially with younger generations due to its social popularity. I think teaching about its negative effects is very important and hopefully we'll see increased health for many.
ReplyDeleteZach Conant
This a very well written post, it's easy to follow and keeps the reader engaged. I myself never knew any of this information, especially that nicotine interrupts the natural processes of the prefrontal cortex.
ReplyDelete- David Miropolsky
I am glad you got some information out of my post, but I am more happy to hear that you found ease in reading my work; for, digestibility is a massive factor in the spread of information.
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