Vaping FAQs

are people still getting sick from vaping

by Newton Heidenreich Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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As illnesses and deaths linked to vaping continue to rise, health officials urge people to stop using e-cigarettes. Officials report 26 deaths have been linked to lung illnesses related to vaping. The CDC

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the leading national public health institute of the United States. The CDC is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

has announced that the majority of illnesses are linked to products containing THC.

Full Answer

What are the negative health effects of vaping?

The short-term side effects of using nicotine vapes are usually:

  • Lingering aftertaste
  • Light-headedness
  • Sweating
  • Headache
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • High blood pressure
  • Increased heart rate

What are the health risks of vaping?

Talk with your kids about the dangers of vaping, but also look for warning signs including:

  • Changes in emotions
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Scents of fruity odors on skin, breath and clothes
  • Strange cylinders, chargers or batteries lying around

How is vaping bad for your health?

Vaping and smoking have also been associated with:

  • Bad breath
  • Bone loss
  • Gum disease
  • Tooth decay
  • Tooth loss

How dangerous are vapes?

Vape and E-Cigarette Dangers. Vaping is marketed as a safer alternative to smoking, but it has many health risks. Battery explosions are one of the most well-known risks, but there are other potential dangers — lung injuries, seizures, strokes, and more. As the dangers of vaping become increasingly apparent, more victims are seeking ...

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How do e-cigarettes generate aerosols?

E-cigarettes generate an aerosol by heating the solution, or e-liquid, with a metallic coil. The researchers found that e-cigarettes can be a source of exposure to toxic metals and to metals that can be toxic if inhaled, concluding that contact with the coil could cause e-liquid contamination.

Is e-cigarette smoke heated?

The e-cigarette vapor as you know is heated. It doesn’t contain the same tobacco carcinogens that are in tobacco smoke, but you may now that Phillip Morris for example is developing new products that allow some heating of actual tobacco as part of the e-cigarette platform. So that risk needs to be weighed in.

Does THC cause lung disease?

THC's role: THC products appear to play a major role in the lung illness. The CDC analyzed information on 514 patients who self-reported their product use. Of these, 77% used products that contained THC, with or without nicotine. Nearly 20% of these patients used flavored e-liquids.

Can vaping cause chest pain?

Patients report a history of vaping before getting a cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and belly pain. Some have needed to be put on ventilators.

Does vitamin E acetate clog lungs?

The additive makes the product appear to be better but ultimately clogs their lungs.

Does nicotine cause cancer?

And we also believe there are some data that nicotine may promote certain cancer signaling networks, how cancers talk to themselves to grow. There’s also very good evidence that nicotine, particularly in children, adolescents and young adults, can cause some rewiring of the brain’s circuitry.

Is it safe to use THC in vaping?

2, 2019 -- More than a month after the first vaping-related death, the CDC has beefed up its recommendation to avoid e-cigarette or vaping products, and it warned users to avoid products that contain THC in particular. This came after reports that most people affected with the vaping-related lung illness had vaped THC, often bought on the black market.

What age group is vaping?

The majority of patients, from 25 states, are in their late teens and early 20s, which happens to be the demographic in which vaping is surging.

Can e-cigarettes cause illness?

The CDC noted that: “specific substances within the e-cigarette products that cause illness are not known and could involve a variety of substances.”

Did the Oregon Health Authority report the use of an e-cigarette?

Investigators from the Oregon Health Authority reported that the person , whose name has not been released, had “ recently used an e-cigarette or vaping device” bought from a cannabis dispensary.

What kind of vapes did Justin use?

Justin had been using a Juul device and mint-flavored nicotine pods, his favorite. He bought mostly Juul products, plus the occasional off-brands available at stores. He would puff on the mint vapes constantly, draining about two pods a day.

How long did Justin Wilson vape?

Justin Wilson, 25, vaped for about a year and then suddenly collapsed, unable to breathe, on Sept. 1. He had to spend a week in a hospital in Portland, Oregon. Courtesy Jake Wilson. Sept. 13, 2019, 7:40 AM PDT / Source: TODAY. By A. Pawlowski.

What are the symptoms of a syringe?

Any new respiratory symptom should be reason for concern, including: 1 coughing 2 shortness of breath 3 chest tightness 4 wheezing 5 general symptoms like extreme fatigue or fever are also warning signs.

Is vaping safe for kids?

Vaping is not as safe as people thought it was, said Dr. Humberto Choi, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. Choi has treated several of the vaping-related illnesses and has recently been inundated by calls from parents worried their children are exhibiting worrisome symptoms.

Did Justin have asthma?

There were some concerns along the way: Justin had been diagnosed with asthma when he was 5, but he’d never had an asthma attack or needed an inhaler until after he started vaping, his father said.

Will Justin go back to vaping?

Another theory is that the heated vapor returned to oil form inside the cooler human body, his father said. “There’s no way” Justin will go back to vaping, he said. Family friends are now throwing away their vape pens after learning about the ordeal, Jake Wilson added.

Can e-liquid cause lipoid pneumonia?

Because the e-liquids can contain oils, there’s concern about the potential for lipoid pneumonia — an inflammation of the lungs caused by oils — but that’s not the pattern Choi has seen at the Cleveland Clinic. Nor are black-market products necessarily to blame: Some of Choi's patients have only used a regular branded vaping device, not something tainted or bought on the street.

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.

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.

How many deaths from evali in 2020?

As of February 18, 2020, a total of 2,807 hospitalized EVALI cases or deaths have been reported to CDC from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands). Sixty-eight deaths have been confirmed in 29 states and the District of Columbia (as of February 18, 2020).

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).

Is vitamin E acetate linked to the eli outbreak?

Vitamin E acetate is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak. Vitamin E acetate has been found in product samples tested by FDA and state laboratories and in patient lung fluid samples tested by CDC from geographically diverse states. Vitamin E acetate has not been found in the lung fluid of people that do not have EVALI.

How many people died from vaping in 2020?

In the last week of December, only 29 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—a sharp drop off from the over 200 cases reported in a week during September. All told, as of February 2020, at least 2,807 people are known to have had this vaping-related lung illness, and 68 people died.

When will vaping stop?

Though the CDC said it would stop tracking the reporting of vaping-related illness in February 2020, local public health agencies and doctors continue to report their own cases. In June, doctors from California described eight patients who became sick from vaping in April.

Why did the CDC stop tracking vaping cases?

These newer cases have been harder to find in part due to the covid-19 pandemic, since the two conditions can present similar symptoms. The pandemic is also likely one reason why the CDC decided to stop tracking these cases, constrained by limited resources. The situation has even spawned its own fringe conspiracy theory, with some people arguing that the vaping cases last year were actually covid-19 in disguise (no expert or source I spoke to endorsed that idea).

What is vitamin E used for in vaping?

This ingredient was often used as a filler to reduce the amount of THC needed per product or to fool customers into thinking the THC in the product was better quality by making the vaping fluid thicker. Importantly, vitamin E was readily found in illicit vaping products —usually disposable THC cartridges—and these products were clearly responsible ...

Is the CDC still warning people to stop vaping?

The CDC Is Still Warning People to Stop Vaping Completely Over Lung Illness Cases —But Why?

Did Oregon pull vitamin E off the market?

By the fall, public health agencies were explicitly warning people to stay away from buying products off the street or from friends, as were vape users and influencers. At least one company that appeared to legally sell vitamin E as a cutting agent in Oregon pulled its product off the market. And there may have been pressure on the manufacturers of illicit devices and cartridges to remove or reduce the vitamin E they used. All of these factors probably contributed to the decline of cases.

Is vaping a healthier alternative to smoking?

The name change was only the latest signal to vaping consumers, people in the industry, and public health experts who see vaping as a healthier alternative to cigarette smoking that the crisis was being used to crack down on the industry without justification.

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