Here is what the CDC knows, and has revealed to us so far, about vaping THC:
- Among the 573 patients the CDC has reports on so far, about 76% reported vaping THC products in the three-months prior to symptom onset. ...
- To date, the data suggests that products containing THC, particularly those obtained off the street or from other informal sources (i.e. not a doctor or dispensary), are linked to the majority of lung injuries and deaths.
Full Answer
Does vaping harm your lungs?
“Vaping involves inhaling a vapor produced by an e-cigarette device deep into your lungs. Vaping devices contain an oil, often called vape juice, to which nicotine and any number of potentially harmful chemicals are added for flavoring or to create a certain aroma, like cotton candy or blueberry. Vape liquids can do irreparable harm to the lungs and other parts of the body.”
Why is vaping causing lung disease?
“We’re still not exactly sure the exact cause of it, but there is an inflammatory response that occurs in the lung presumed due to something in the aerosol from vaping,” says Joanna Tsai, MD, a pulmonologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
What effect does vaping have on the lungs?
What does vaping do to your lungs? There are some studies that show that one chemical, called diacetyl, that’s used in vape to give butter-like and other flavors, is causing disease in the small airways of the lung, thickening the air sacs and causing inflammation.
Is vaping more dangerous than smoking?
The short-term dangers of vaping-related lung injury are certainly serious. However, the long term health risks of smoking seem to be much greater. The CDC’s warning is absolutely necessary. Until the cause of these injuries is identified, vaping has to be considered a much more immediate risk than smoking.
How do vape pens collapse a lung?
Vitamin E acetate is not water-soluble but also replaces the natural surfactant that lines the inside of your lungs.
Is it safe to test the vapour that comes out of a cartridge?
You missed a step. Therefore, it would be good to test the vapour that comes out of a cartridge to know if there is any risk factor.
Does THC inhibit messengers?
In greater detail, the full function of the messenger (PIK3) is not black and white. (3) In contrast, THC can inhibit but also activate the messenger for different reasons. Unlike vaporized Vitamin E acetate, however, oral doses of cannabinoids maintain homeostasis.
Does cannabis cause cancer?
Cannabis ‘s natural polypharmacy works on a highly balanced rhythm that does not cause the same risk of cancer or lung damage as THC vapes. So, it is typically ill-advised to alter this balance unnaturally.
Can tocopherols replace alveoli?
There is a fluid in your lungs that allows the little sacs known as alveoli to expand with air. A lung will collapse if it loses this fluid. Therefore, it is highly problematic that tocopherols can replace this fluid since this will potentially collapse the lung.
Does heat affect THC?
Heat influences THC to turn into Delta-8, CBN, or degrade. So, heat is an issue in the identity of the molecule. When you put THC in a vape cartridge, it is Delta-9 THC in the beginning. But, does anything happen to the THC when you heat it for vaporization? That question hasn’t really been answered, yet.
Can lung tissue be destroyed by a toxin?
New tissue will still need to form via cell division if lung tissue is attacked by a toxin and killed in any condition. Otherwise, the result might be catastrophic lung damage.
What is the audience of vaping?
Audience: Consumers and family members of consumers who use vaping products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC), a psychoactive component of the marijuana plant. Consumers who have used vaping products of any kind obtained off the street or from unknown sources.
Can you vape with THC?
Do not use vaping products that contain THC.
Is the FDA preventing vaping?
Purpose: In its continued efforts to protect the public, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is strengthening its warning to consumers to stop using vaping products containing THC amid more than 1,000 reports of lung injuries —including some resulting in deaths—following the use of vaping products. The FDA is working closely ...
Is vaping approved by the FDA?
No vaping product has been approved by the FDA for therapeutic uses or authorized for marketing by the FDA. The agency recommends contacting your health care provider for more information about the use of THC to treat medical conditions.
Which states have the most vaping cases?
Among the states with the most cases to date: California, Texas, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Number of cases of lung injury associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping, in the United States, including two territories, so far in 2019. CDC. A separate study, also published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, ...
How many deaths from e-cigarettes in the US?
The 18 deaths, meanwhile, have been recorded in 15 states.
Can vaping be linked to all cases?
Again, patients only have vaping in common, but no specific products or substances link all the cases together. That’s why an investigation is still underway, and officials are urging doctors and the public to report cases.
Is vaping harmful to the cardiovascular system?
From nicotine-induced seizures to injuries from vaping explosions to stress on the lungs and cardiovascular system, doctors and health researchers have been calling attention to vaping’s harms. But it is the first time vaping has been linked directly to deaths.
When will vaping peak?
Emergency department (ED) visits related to e-cigarette, or vaping, products continue to decline, after sharply increasing in August 2019 and peaking in September.
When is the next vaping hospital admission?
Dates of symptom onset and hospital admission for patients with lung injury associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping — United States, March 31, 2019–February 15, 2020. Numbers do not sum to 2,807 due to missing admission dates.
What is the substance in marijuana?
The liquid can contain: nicotine, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinoid (CBD) oils, and other substances, flavorings, and additives. THC is the psychoactive mind-altering compound of marijuana that produces the “high.”
What is an e-cigarette?
Using an e-cigarette is commonly called vaping. E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid to produce an aerosol that users inhale into their lungs.
How to contact CDC about e-cigarettes?
If you have questions about CDC’s investigation into the lung injuries associated with use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products, contact CDC-INFO or call 1-800-232-4636.
Who monitors e-cigarettes?
CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are continuing to monitor e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).
Why are cigarettes dangerous?
The reason cigarettes are dangerous isn’t because of the nicotine. The tar and other chemicals that cause emphysema or cancer make it so dangerous. Burning or inhaling is a bad idea. That’s why we will probably discover that marijuana is bad for your lungs, too.”.
Why are e-cigarettes bad for youth?
These are similar in nature to vaporizers used for marijuana, and can greatly impact youth because of the potential cancer-causing substances they release.
How many states allow medical marijuana?
The research on medical marijuana looks promising. However, we still don’t know whether it’s an effective treatment. Beyond that, only 31 states , as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia allow the use of marijuana for medical use.
What is the active ingredient in marijuana?
Two drugs that are a synthetic laboratory version with chemical structure of or similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), another active ingredient in marijuana, are approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Can smoking marijuana cause damage?
Smoking marijuana can cause damage with rupture to the walls of adjacent alveoli (small air sacs in the lungs) into larger, ineffective air sacs called bullae. The risk is higher in male smokers under the age of 45.
Does smoking marijuana cause bronchitis?
This is associated with an increased likelihood of developing chronic bronchitis. The inhalation patterns when smoking marijuana are different than when smoking cigarettes.
Is marijuana good for you?
Health benefits of marijuana. Marijuana may provide calming effects that improve certain mental and physical conditions. For instance, a doctor might recommend medical marijuana to people with Crohn’s disease as an alternative way to ease inflammation, nausea, and vomiting .
What are the symptoms of smoking marijuana?
Symptoms were: wheezing and whistling in the chest; sleep disturbed or speech limited due to wheezing; sounded wheezy during or after exercise; and dry cough at night not associated with chest illness or infection. Paper cited: "Cannabis, Vaping, and Respiratory Symptoms in a Probability Sample of U.S. Youth," Journal of Adolescent Health.
Who is the principal investigator of vaping nicotine?
The result challenges conventional wisdom about vaping nicotine, says the study's principal investigator, Carol Boyd, Ph.D., the Deborah J. Oakley Collegiate Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. "I thought that e-cigarettes (vaping nicotine) would be the nicotine product most strongly associated with worrisome ...
Is vaping a smoking habit for teens?
Adolescents who vape cannabis are at greater risk for respiratory symptoms indicative of lung injury than teens who smoke cigarettes or marijuana, or vape nicotine, a new University of Michigan study suggests.
Does vaping cause lung damage?
Vaping Marijuana Associated with More Symptoms of Lung Damage than Vaping or Smoking Nicotine. Research says vaping cannabis may cause worse respiratory issues than e-cigarettes or smoking cigarettes or marijuana alone. Adolescents who vape cannabis are at greater risk for respiratory symptoms indicative of lung injury than teens who smoke ...
Is vaping bad for you?
Boyd, who also co-directs U-M's Center for Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health, stressed that the findings do not mean that vaping nicotine or smoking cigarettes or marijuana are not bad for you. These products also produce symptoms of lung injury, but not to the same degree as vaping marijuana, she explains. "In short, it is all bad, but ...
What is the chemical that can damage your lungs?
Acrolein: Most often used as a weed killer, this chemical can also damage lungs.
What is a vape pen?
With vaping, a device (typically a vape pen or a mod — an enhanced vape pen — that may look like a flash drive) heats up a liquid ( called vape juice or e -liquid) until it turns into a vapor that you inhale. “Vaping is a delivery system similar to a nebulizer, which people with asthma or other lung conditions may be familiar with,” says Broderick. ...
What to do if your lung hurts?
What to Do If Your Lungs Hurt. If you smoke or vape, don’t brush off chest or lung pain as something that’s normal. If you have pain or other symptoms associated with breathing difficulties, such as shortness of breath and chronic cough, it’s important to see a doctor.
What is the condition called when you get sick from eating popcorn?
“Popcorn lung” is another name for bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), a rare condition that results from damage of the lungs’ small airways. BO was originally discovered when popcorn factory workers started getting sick. The culprit was diacetyl, a food additive used to simulate butter flavor in microwave popcorn.
What is the food additive used to deepen e-cigarette flavors?
Diacetyl: This food additive, used to deepen e-cigarette flavors, is known to damage small passageways in the lungs.
Does vaping affect the lungs?
Instead of bathing lung tissue with a therapeutic mist, just as a nebulizer does, vaping coats lungs with potentially harmful chemicals. E-liquid concoctions usually include some mix of flavorings, aromatic additives and nicotine or THC (the chemical in marijuana that causes psychological effects), dissolved in an oily liquid base.
Is second hand vapor safe?
Secondhand Vapor Isn’t Safe Either. It’s a myth that secondhand emissions from e-cigarettes are harmless. Many people think the secondhand vapor is just water, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The vapor emitted when someone exhales contains a variety of dangerous substances, which may include: Nicotine.
