Vaping. We all knew it was bad, but we didn't know to what extend 'bad' meant. As many know by now, smoking cigarettes significantly increase one's chance of developing pulmonary issues such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (Hou et al., 2019). This is due to decreased lung function. Smoking decreases our intake of oxygen, and, therefore, reduces the amount of energy needed for other functions throughout our body (Carney & Benzeval, 2019). But vaping couldn't cause similar problems, right?
In the United States, there has been an increase of reported cases of 'lung injuries' in young adults that were perfectly healthy before (Ghinai et al., 2019). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 1,299 reported lung injury cases and 26 deaths in the United States as of October 8, 2019. The CDC has found the median age of reported cases to be 24 years old, and 80% of these patients were under 35 years old (2019).
Researchers are finding that the common factor in all these cases are vaping products. These products are known as e-cigarettes, hookahs, and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). All contain aerosol that is produced by heating flavored nicotine and/or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The aerosol then gets into the lungs of the user. However, it is still unknown what chemicals are causing these lung injuries (Perrine, 2019). More research needs to be done in order to find out what chemicals in these products are causing these acute pulmonary issues.
In order to reduce reported cases, 500 cities and 18 states have increased the minimum age to but tobacco products to 21 years old. (Department, 2019). The city of Denver just recently joined this 'Tobacco 21' law as of October 1, 2019.
These are the beginning stages of the lung injury outbreak, and more data will explain the ultimate cause of these mysterious cases. But what do you believe is the cause? And should the government be doing more to ban these products until then?
In the United States, there has been an increase of reported cases of 'lung injuries' in young adults that were perfectly healthy before (Ghinai et al., 2019). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 1,299 reported lung injury cases and 26 deaths in the United States as of October 8, 2019. The CDC has found the median age of reported cases to be 24 years old, and 80% of these patients were under 35 years old (2019).
Researchers are finding that the common factor in all these cases are vaping products. These products are known as e-cigarettes, hookahs, and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). All contain aerosol that is produced by heating flavored nicotine and/or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The aerosol then gets into the lungs of the user. However, it is still unknown what chemicals are causing these lung injuries (Perrine, 2019). More research needs to be done in order to find out what chemicals in these products are causing these acute pulmonary issues.
In order to reduce reported cases, 500 cities and 18 states have increased the minimum age to but tobacco products to 21 years old. (Department, 2019). The city of Denver just recently joined this 'Tobacco 21' law as of October 1, 2019.
These are the beginning stages of the lung injury outbreak, and more data will explain the ultimate cause of these mysterious cases. But what do you believe is the cause? And should the government be doing more to ban these products until then?
References
Carney, C., & Benzeval, M. (2019) The moderating effect of childhood disadvantage on the associations between smoking and occupational exposure and lung function; a cross sectional analysis of the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). BMC Public Health 19(1), 690. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7039-z.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with E-cigarette Use, or Vaping. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Department of Public Health & Environment. (2019). Tobacco 21 (T21) & Licensure. Denver, Colorado: City and County of Denver.
Ghinai, I., et al. (2019) E-cigarette Product Use, or Vaping, Among Persons with Associated Lung Injury - Illinois and Wisconsin, April-September 2019. MMWR. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report, 68(39), 865-869. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6839e2
Hou, W., et al. (2019). Cigarette Smoke Induced Lung Barrier Dysfunction, EMT, and Tissue Remodeling: A Possible Link between COPD and Lung Cancer. BioMed Research International, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2025636.
Perrine, C. G., et al. (2019) Characteristics of a Multistate Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with E-cigarette Use, or Vaping - United States, 2019. MMWR. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report, 68(39), 860-864. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6839e1
Your post brings up a ton of ethical concerns surrounding youth exposure to e-cigs and other vaping products. Is it ethical for Juul and similar companies to market their products to such a vulnerable population? So little research has been done into the longterm effects of vaping, and yet youth are being directly marketed to by these multi-million dollar companies. For example, 70% of middle school and high school children were exposed to a vaping ad in 2014, and surely that number has grown in the last 5 years. The bottom line is that these products do have repercussions (how could they not?), and yet they are still widely marketed to a vulnerable population without a second thought. Should our government intervene in a more serious way? Because let's be honest, even with the age-limits and disclosure messages on ads, who are these companies really trying to target with cotton candy flavored vapes??
ReplyDeleteE-cigarette Ads and Youth | VitalSigns | CDC. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/ecigarette-ads/index.html.
This is an interesting topic as Juuls were placed on the market prior to understanding fully what they were capable of. Although they were marketed as a safer alternative to smoking, negative at at times fatal effects of this product are already being seen. With that being said, it is not hard to assume that the long-term risks of cigarettes also apply to Juuls, and possibly to a greater extent. Cigarettes cause cardiovascular disease as they cause plaque to build up and narrow arteries, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Additionally, by the same mechanism, blood attempting to move through the legs is limited, leading to peripheral vascular disease, which is a painful often misdiagnosed disease ("Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking", 2019). It will be unfortunate but also interesting to see the long-term effects of Juuls that will be illuminated as our generation grows old.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking. (2019). Retrieved 14 October 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm
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ReplyDeleteHi there Regan,
ReplyDeleteThis topic is very interesting considering the recent news and debate regarding the safety and legality of vape pens. I do understand the argument that vape pens are a safer alternative to combustible cigarettes, which is a good alternative for people who are trying to quit smoking. Though it has become increasingly popular among young people to use vape pens who previously never smoked combustible cigarettes, further propelling a generating of people who are dependent on nicotine. I would like to point out that in your post you do not mention that most regulated nicotine based electronic cigarettes like Juul are not what is causing the recent deaths we have been hearing about in the news. According to recent toxicology reports, the common factor in all the deaths is the use of vitamin e oil which is used to dissolve nicotine/ THC in off brand vape pens; it is now being reported that the vitamin e oil may be coating the lungs of the smoker making it harder to breath and potentially fatal. This same problem was seen in the 80's when young teens who worked in movie theaters were developing "popcorn lung" from regularly inhaling the butter oil, resulting in similar deaths to those seen in the vape users.
Although I do agree that there needs to be something done about the issue with vape pens and their safety, I believe that moving forward, the argument should be focused on the potential risk of having a generating heavily addicted to nicotine. The risk to mental health, and lack of healthy coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety at such an early age may put many people at risk for life long issues.
Canistro, D., Vivarelli, F., Cirillo, S., Babot Marquillas, C., Buschini, A., Lazzaretti, M., … Paolini, M. (2017). E-cigarettes induce toxicological effects that can raise the cancer risk. Scientific reports, 7(1), 2028. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02317-8
Downs, D. (2019, October 10). Amid vape pen lung disease deaths: What exactly is vitamin E oil? Retrieved from https://www.leafly.com/news/health/vape-pen-lung-disease-vitamin-e-oil-explained.
I found this really interesting because I know a lot of different people around me that use different types of e-cigarettes, weed pens, and juuls. I think it is crazy how a lot of different companies put these out in the markets with little knowledge of long term effects for different individuals. I also think its crazy that the initial reasons as to why e-cigarettes and juuls were made in the first place was to first stop the heavy use of cigarettes. Now almost everyone is addicted to vaping.
ReplyDeleteI think with Denver increasing the age limit to 21 still will not stop the use of vaping in youths. They did the same thing in Hawaii. Specifically in Hawaii, they found that 25% of 9th and 10th graders have used e-cigarettes (Kastrenakes 2019), however, there is still a big vaping problem in schools. I still keep in touch with my high school teachers and they tell me how many vapes are confiscated weekly. So even if the age limit increased to 21, I still think there are young teenagers who will still find ways to get a vape and keep smoking till they develop pulmonary issues.
references:
Kastrenakes, J. (2015, June 23). Out of control vaping makes Hawaii raise smoking age to 21. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2015/6/23/8830711/hawaii-smoking-limit-21-first-state-in-us.
I think the juuling epidemic is one that touches on the normalized abuse of many different legal substances such as alcohol, vaping (nicotine and carcinogens, etc), smoking, prescription drugs, marijuana, etc. Juuling is now in the eye of the media, hospitals, high schools, and colleges due to the abuse seen in younger populations. The detrimental side effects have caused severe illnesses as well as deaths, but it seems as though we are taking juuling more seriously than the other substances. We do not know the long- term side effects of juuling, but we are aware of the effects that alcohol and smoking have on the body. Therefore, why do we still allow easy access for these substances knowing how destructive they are to not only personal physical health but mental, environmental, and in relationships? Why is the only restriction increasing the age of access when alcohol, vaping, and cigarettes are shown to kill many people, or even just hospitalize people? There is monetary and tax support for the economy, but we should not put those monetary needs before the health of people. How can we appropriately reach the younger population and educate them about juuling?
ReplyDelete