Vaping FAQs

do patients read information on vaping

by Leon Ullrich MD Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Is vaping getting young people addicted?

Vapes are a new way to get young people addicted to nicotine, which is often difficult to quit. Vaping may seem popular, but in fact, research shows that 4 in 5 young people do not vape. You might think vaping is harmless, but it isn’t, and the serious consequences of vaping are just starting to emerge.

What are the 5 facts about vaping?

5 Vaping Facts You Need to Know 1 Vaping Is Less Harmful Than Smoking, but It’s Still Not Safe. 2 Research Suggests Vaping Is Bad for Your Heart and Lungs. 3 Electronic Cigarettes Are Just As Addictive As Traditional Ones. 4 Electronic Cigarettes Aren’t the Best Smoking Cessation Tool. 5 A New Generation Is Getting Hooked on Nicotine.

Is vaping bad for You?

1: Vaping Is Less Harmful Than Smoking, but It’s Still Not Safe. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic.

What is the difference between e-cigarettes and vaping?

Vaping is the term often used to describe the act of using an electronic cigarette. E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat a liquid solution-usually, but not always, containing nicotine-turning it into a vapor that can be inhaled.

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How many people believe vaping is less harmful than smoking?

Despite these statistics and the evidence available, in light of vaping-related deaths in the United States, the proportion of smokers correctly believing that vaping is less harmful than smoking has fallen to just 48%.

How many people in the UK vape?

More than half (54%) of the 3.6 million people who vape in the UK are ex-smokers, suggesting that vaping does help people to quit smoking. Just under 40% of vapers smoke as well as vape and only 6% have never smoked cigarettes.

How many people died from vaping in 2020?

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of mid-January 2020, more than 2,600 people had been hospitalised for EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury) or related deaths, across fifty states.

When did vaping go on sale?

Although there are thousands of existing and ongoing studies into vaping, the long-term effects are yet to be seen since e-cigarettes only went on sale in 2007. But from what we know so far, the risk is a fraction of the risk of smoking regular cigarettes. The advice remains that current smokers should switch to e-cigarettes but non-smokers should not start vaping or smoking.

Can you quit smoking with vaping?

Those using vaping to quit smoking should only do so with regulated products. Your local stop smoking service can advise on the best product for you. "We'd encourage anyone using e-cigarettes as a quitting tool to reduce the nicotine they vape and then stop when the time feels right, and you won't go back to cigarettes," he continues. It's important to do this at your own pace so you won't go back to smoking.

Is vaping safer than smoking?

"Vaping is far less harmful than smoking but does carry some risks ," they continue. E-cigarettes contain some of the harmful chemicals contained in cigarettes but at much lower levels. Some e-liquids contain nicotine, an addictive substance which does have some side effects like increased blood pressure and heart rate. But nicotine replacement therapy has been used for years in smoking cessation programmes, and the risks of getting nicotine by vaping are far lower than the risks from smoking. Nicotine is not the main risk factor in most smoking-related causes of death.

Does smoking cigarettes cause cancer?

Smoking causes around 7 out of every 10 cases of lung cancer and can also worsen symptoms of lung conditions such as asthma. Smoking not only harms the lungs but also causes heart attacks, strokes and cancer .". When it comes to using e-cigarettes, it's about the relative risk of vaping against smoking normal cigarettes.

How to tell if a child is vaping?

Talk with your kids about the dangers of vaping, but also look for warning signs including: 1 Changes in emotions 2 Trouble sleeping 3 Scents of fruity odors on skin, breath and clothes 4 Strange cylinders, chargers or batteries lying around

How to help a teenager who is vaping?

Encourage your teen to look into the warnings and media stories related to vaping, or reach out to his or her primary care provider with questions.

Why is vaping so popular among teens?

First publicized as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco, vaping caught on because it didn't contain the carcinogens or tars found in most smoking tobacco products. Also, vaping was supposed to eliminate the dangers of secondhand smoke to those nearby.

How long does a vape last?

Did you know most cigarettes are smoked within two to five minutes? E-cigarettes on the other hand can last up to 20 minutes, delivering more nicotine and damaging chemicals to the lungs. In addition, some vaping mixtures can contain 20 times the nicotine that a single cigarette contains.

What is an e-cigarette?

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat a liquid solution — usually, but not always, containing nicotine — turning it into a vapor that can be inhaled . If the base nicotine mixture is not palatable, many flavors, such as mint, apple and others, can make vaping attractive, especially to adolescents.

Why is vaping so difficult?

This is due to the difficulty in correctly identifying what they inhaled, especially when they are intubated or unconscious.

Is vaping bad for teens?

Adolescents often feel that bad things happen to everyone else, but the risks associated with vaping are real. Many teens are taking things a step further, adding cannabis, CBD oils and other dangerous additives to vaping devices.

What are the symptoms of e-cigarette use?

Most of the patients in their study presented with shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain [12]. The severity of the illness varied from mild shortness of breath requiring oxygen supplementation via nasal cannula to severe debilitating respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation [12,13]. Five patients identified in July and August 2019 had acute lung injury associated with e-cigarette use. These patients were identified in two different hospitals in North Carolina, all were admitted for hypoxemic respiratory failure. All the patients reported a history of recent e-cigarette use. They were initially admitted for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), but their symptoms worsened with conventional treatment for CAP. They were eventually diagnosed with acute exogenous lipoid pneumonia [13]. Another patient had presented with shortness of breath; investigations yielded a diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax. An 18-year-old patient had no history of cigarette smoking but endorsed daily use of e-cigarettes. The patient then had a recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax. He had no significant medical or surgical history to increase his propensity for spontaneous pneumothorax [14].

What is an e-cigarette?

This raises significant health concerns [1]. Simply put, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are electronic devices designed to vaporize chemical compounds. These devices have different components, including a mouthpiece, a liquid tank, a heating element, and a battery [2]. They come in various shapes, sizes, and device types, and are known by different names to different users. The most common terminologies include e-cigs, vapes, e-hookahs, vape pens, mods, tanks, or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). The process of using the devices is sometimes referred to as vaping or juuling, the latter so named for the particular device brand [3].

What are the health risks of smoking e-cigarettes?

The device is made up of a mouthpiece, liquid tank, a heating element, and a battery. E-cigarette use may pose health risks in the form of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. These health risks have implications to not only the primary user, but the aerosols can also cause secondhand and thirdhand injuries to others in the vicinity. Acute lung injury may also be associated with the use of e-cigarettes, but the underlying cause remains unknown. Clinicians, including hospitalists, pulmonologists, intensivists, medical examiners, pathologists, and the like, should report possible cases as the medical community continues to assess the health risks of e-cigarette use.

Why is it important to understand the nature and attitude of e-cigarettes use among young adults?

Understanding the nature and attitude of e-cigarettes use among young adults is very important as this is the period when they transition into social contexts (e.g., college, peer pressure, and workplace) often resulting in an increased prevalence in substance use and the development of addictive patterns [18] .  This raises a public health concern as it suggests that the younger generations of users, which have the highest rates of electronic cigarettes use, might become addicted to these devices despite unknown long-term physiologic and pathologic consequences [19].

Does vaping cause ground glass opacities?

Chest computed tomography scans obtained from patients with vaping-associated lung disease showed significant findings. Ground-glass opacities seem to be a common finding in the imaging studies of most patients with e-cigarette-associated lung disease [16,17].

Is vaping associated with pulmonary disease?

So far, most of the literature on vaping-associated pulmonary disease we have are case reports and case series. A high index of suspicion is paramount as there are reports of patients that rapidly progressed to acute respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation [3]. The use of ENDS continues to grow in the United States. For example, while the use of combustible tobacco cigarettes has declined significantly, the United States ENDS market now exceeds 8 billion dollars [4]. At the moment, there are regular advertisements for e-cigarettes, promoting them as viable and safe alternatives to cigarettes smoking despite an absence of any studies to prove superior efficacy to conventional smoking cessation strategies already studied, such as nicotine replacement, bupropion hydrochloride, varenicline, and counseling [5]. E-cigarettes use may pose health risks in the form of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Tobacco cigarette smoking is the primary cause of preventable cardiovascular death in the United States, and smoking cessation has long been the focus of significant public health efforts. The rates of tobacco smoking in the United States have continued to decline and reached historic lows according to a Surgeon General report in 2014. However, with this decline, the use of electronic cigarettes, introduced in 2007, has markedly increased, especially among young people [6]. Healthcare providers should be on the alert for symptoms suggestive of acute lung injury secondary to vaping and remind patients that even though some e-cigarettes contain nicotine, they are currently not approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a cessation aid for smokers. Clinicians, including hospitalists, pulmonologists, medical examiners, primary care physicians, pathologists, and the like, are reminded to report possible cases [3,7].  People should consider not using e-cigarettes. This is especially the case for high-risk groups, including those without prior experiences, teenagers, pregnant women/nursing mothers, or adults who do not currently use oral tobacco products. These health risks have implications to not only the primary user, but the aerosols can also cause secondhand and thirdhand injuries to others in the vicinity. However, the regulations for public e-cigarette use vary across states and are inconsistent across cities within certain states. These variations in restrictions exist in both locations and types of product use, public versus private use, and types of products allowed in certain places [7]. Consumers in most states must be 18 years or older to purchase the device, although underage sales have been reported in retailers and online. The Food and Drug Administration has expressed concerns that certain flavored e-cigarettes are appealing to youth who may be unaware of the products’ addictiveness and some others who may have never tried a nicotine product [8]. There are many compounds in the aerosols and liquids and the selling point mostly used is that it can serve as a “Healthier” alternative to tobacco smoking even though the Food and Drug Administration has not approved this. The American Cancer Society discourages the dual use of electronic cigarettes and cigarettes because such use has not resulted in reduced exposures to the harmful effects of smoking [9,10]. Flavoring was considered by most users as the most important reason for vaping [10].  Over the past year, the Center for Disease Control has drawn attention to severe pulmonary disease associated with the use of electronic cigarette products. There have been reports of more than 200 cases associated with the use of these devices, using both known and unknown products [11]. The exact cause of these findings is still uncertain. Available data have been either case reports or case series. Some of the reported cases of e-cigarette-associated pulmonary illnesses include spontaneous pneumothorax, acute eosinophilic pneumonia, respiratory bronchiolitis-associated interstitial lung disease, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, organizing pneumonia, and acute exogenous lipoid pneumonia [12-14].

What do e-cigarettes look like?

Some e-cigarettes look like regular cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Some look like USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items. Learn more about e-cigarettes and their effect on your health. The use of e-cigarettes is unsafe for kids, teens, and young adults.

What are the benefits of e-cigarettes?

What‘s the bottom line? 1 E-cigarettes have the potential to benefit adult smokers who are not pregnant if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products. 2 E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, and pregnant women, as well as adults who do not currently use tobacco products. 3 While e-cigarettes have the potential to benefit some people and harm others, scientists still have a lot to learn about whether e-cigarettes are effective for quitting smoking. 4 If you’ve never smoked or used other tobacco products or e-cigarettes, don’t start. 5 Additional research can help understand long-term health effects.

What is the purpose of the e-cigarette pamphlet?

This product is intended for educational purposes only for public health officials and healthcare providers. The devices and brands presented in this pamphlet are intended to highlight the different e-cigarette, or vaping, product generations and substances used in these devices.

Can you quit smoking with e-cigarettes?

While e-cigarettes have the potential to benefit some people and harm others, scientists still have a lot to learn about whether e-cigarettes are effective for quitting smoking. If you’ve never smoked or used other tobacco products or e-cigarettes, don’t start. Additional research can help understand long-term health effects.

Can you smoke e-cigarettes while pregnant?

E-cigarettes have the potential to benefit adult smokers who are not pregnant if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products. E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, and pregnant women, as well as adults who do not currently use tobacco products. While e-cigarettes have the potential ...

What is the cause of e-cigarette evali?

Health officials point to vitamin E acetate (an additive in some THC-containing e-cigarettes) as the primary, but not the only, cause of EVALI.

How Is EVALI Diagnosed?

These include shortness of breath, fever and chills, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, rapid heartrate and chest pain. Your doctor will evaluate your history of e-cigarette use and other vaping devices, and may take a chest X-ray or CT scan to see if there are hazy spots on your lungs (called opacities) that indicate tissue damage.

What Is the Treatment for EVALI?

Treatment is based on expert recommendations and depends on the severity of the illness. Primary medication treatments include antibiotics and/or antivirals until infection is ruled out as well as corticosteroids to help fight inflammation in the lungs. Patients with more severe cases will need hospitalization and, because they may be unable to breathe on their own, could be placed on a ventilator. Even patients who have less severe symptoms may need supplemental oxygen.

Is vitamin E acetate a vaping substance?

In addition to vitamin E acetate, there are many other substances and product sources in vaping materials that are being examined as possible causes. The CDC and lung health researchers around the country are continuing to investigate.

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