Parents should be concerned because:
- Vaping increases the risk of teens developing an addiction to nicotine.
- Vaping exposes children and teens to harmful metals and toxic chemicals found in e-cigarettes.
- A mysterious, vaping-related illness is on the rise: e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).
Full Answer
Why vaping is dangerous for teens?
Vaping increases the risk of teens developing an addiction to nicotine. Vaping exposes children and teens to harmful metals and toxic chemicals found in e-cigarettes. A mysterious, vaping-related illness is on the rise: e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).
How is vaping bad for teens?
Why vaping is so dangerous for teens
- Teen vaping was a ‘predictable problem’. Experts say that one Juul pod – a cartridge of nicotine-rich liquid that users plug into the dominant e-cig brand – contains the same ...
- Teens’ brains might be more vulnerable to nicotine. ...
- It’s hard to get kids to quit. ...
How does vaping affect teens, vaping and mental health?
Vaping puts nicotine into the body. Nicotine is highly addictive and can: slow brain development in teens and affect memory, concentration, learning, self-control, attention, and mood increase the risk of other types of addiction later in life
Is vaping bad for teens?
There’s no doubt that vaping is bad for teens, and it has become a major health concern. Prevention and education are the best strategies for keeping adolescents away from vaping. If you find your teen is already addicted, offer them all the support they need and seek the help of specialists.
What is the advertising for e-cigarettes?
How does nicotine affect the brain?
What is an electronic cigarette?
How can physicians help with vaping?
What are the three questions that a medical student should ask about their social history?
Can vaping be used to inhale cannabinoids?
Do e-cigarettes increase the chance of smoking?
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About this website
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Teen Vaping Is a Public Health Crisis: What You Need to Know
Vaping among preteens and teens has reached a crisis point, according to a 2019 survey, and it threatens to undo years of public health efforts that had led to a decline in nicotine use.. Parents should be concerned because: Vaping increases the risk of teens developing an addiction to nicotine.
How many teens are vaping in 2019?
Vaping marijuana continues to dramatically increase in popularity among teens, according to numbers from the latest Monitoring the Future study . In 2019, 14% of high school seniors admitted to vaping marijuana in the past month. This is almost double the percentage from 2018. In addition, 21% of 12 th graders reported vaping marijuana within ...
What is the use of e-cigs?
As mentioned earlier, the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) is also referred to as vaping. There are hundreds of different brands and a few different styles of e-cigs. But in general, they are all battery-operated devices that have a cartridge that holds a liquid solution. When a person puffs, the e-cig vaporizes the liquid and the user inhales the vapor.
Is vaping marijuana dangerous?
Vaping marijuana (THC oil) can be more dangerous than smoking the drug. This is because people often vape a higher concentration of THC which, in turn, intensifies the high and can increase the "likelihood of addiction and adverse medical consequences,” Dr. Volkow said during a teleconference about the study.
Who is the director of NIDA?
NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow told Kaiser Health News. " We know in medicine, a tissue that has suffered harm is more vulnerable. The big centers where you are observing the rise in COVID-19 cases, that’s where you are more likely to see the comorbidity of vaping," she said.
Does vaping affect the immune system?
Vaping (and smoking) can cause damage to a person's lungs. Those activities can also affect a person's immune system. People with lung issues are more hurt by COVID-19 symptoms than healthy people.
Does marijuana affect your brain?
Studies have found that regular marijuana use during the teen years disrupts brain development and can also lead to problems with attention span, behavior and impulse control in adulthood.
Does marijuana affect teen brain development?
Studies have found that regular marijuana use during the teen years disrupts brain development and can also lead to problems with attention span, behavior and impulse control in adulthood.
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.
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].
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].
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].
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].
How many times more likely are teens to smoke a cigarette?
The study found that students in grades seven to 12 who had tried an e-cigarette are 2.16 times more likely to be susceptible to cigarette smoking.
Is marijuana smoking increasing?
Mar. 27, 2018 — While cigarette smoking is declining, marijuana use is rising and, disproportionately, marijuana users also smoke cigarettes. Our new study reports that cannabis use was associated with an increased ...
What can parents do?
Parent should be on the lookout for behavior that indicates their child is using marijuana, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
How many teens are addicted to marijuana?
About one in six teens who use marijuana regularly become addicted, the CDC stated. A person is considered dependent on weed when they feel food cravings or a lack of appetite, irritability, restlessness and mood and sleep difficulties after quitting. Called cannabis use disorder, the problem is on the rise, especially in those who started using as teenagers.
Why is marijuana dangerous for teens?
The use of marijuana by teens -- in any form -- is concerning because weed affects the adolescent brain differently, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why do people vape cannabis?
In one of the studies, adolescents also reported a preference for vaping cannabis extracts over dried herbs to get the buzz they desired from THC. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, the one that produces the "high" users desire.
How much THC is in weed?
Modern ultra-potent strains of weed can contain over 15% THC, compared to the 4% or so available in the 1990s.
Is vaping weed dangerous?
Vaping weed is associated with a dangerous, newly identified lung disease called EVALI, short for e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury. In most of the cases, young people were using vaping products that contain THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana.
Is it safe to use weed as a teenager?
If you suspect your child may be using, be aware that many teens believe that using weed is safer than drinking alcohol or using other drugs. Prepare yourself for the conversation by knowing "the myths and the facts" about weed, the AACAP said.
What is the advertising for e-cigarettes?
Advertising for e-cigarettes has been heavily aimed at adolescents. Everything from the billboards to the packaging to the product itself has been aimed at teens. Ads on social media were widely distributed. From 2014 to 2016, advertising for vaping exploded and one study found that 78% of middle and high school students had been exposed to at least one advertisement.1Pods come in fun packaging and the different pods are flavored to be attractive to adolescents, with everything from mint to gummi bear to frosted sugar cookie. This is especially concerning because studies have shown that flavor is one of the most important factors adolescents consider in trying e-cigarettes.4The devices to aerosolize the pods are designed to look like anything from USBs to pens to inhalers. They can be personalized much like a cell phone case and backpacks have special pockets for the mod devices.
How does nicotine affect the brain?
Adolescent brains are still developing, and nicotine exposure has been linked with cognitive deficits and impairment in memory and executive function. Electronic cigarettes have been connected with increased impulsivity, with one animal study demonstrating that exposure to e-cigarette vapor during times of rapid brain growth (like during adolescence) can cause hyperactivity and impulsive behavior changes.4Another study looking specifically at the teen population found increased risks of physical fighting, attempted suicide, and alcohol/marijuana use when comparing non-users to teens who smoked or vaped.8
What is an electronic cigarette?
Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices that use an electric pulse to heat and aerosolize a flavored liquid that typically contains nicotine. They were first introduced to the U.S. in 2007, and they were advertised by the tobacco companies as an adjunct method to help patients quit smoking. This claim never had evidence to support it, as studies comparing the use of electronic cigarettes, placebos, and nicotine patches demonstrated no significant differences in abstinence rates.3But because e-cigarettes were seen as a treatment option, they were not subjected to the same regulations as combustible cigarettes. It wasn’t until 2016 that the Congress passed the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act, giving the FDA the authority to regulate e-cigarette packaging.1
How can physicians help with vaping?
The other way physicians can help address vaping in adolescents is by participating in advocacy at a local, state or national level. Currently in the state of Missouri, e-cigarettes are not included in the definition of “Tobacco Products” and thus are not subject to the same restrictions as combustible cigarettes. The sale of e-cigarettes to those under 18 years of age is prohibited, just as with tobacco. But the only regulation in place for e-cigarette packaging is that the liquid must be in child-resistant containers. The American Academy of Pediatrics is currently advocating for Missouri to include e-cigarettes in smoke-free laws and to increase the minimum age to purchase electronic cigarettes to 21 years.16Organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians have both released position papers on vaping and offer further ways to join the fight. It is time for physicians to ask their adolescent patients about vaping and to provide education to the child and parents on the dangers of vaping. Physicians have the responsibility to be advocates for their patients working with medical organizations, state and local governments to address the adolescent vaping epidemic.
What are the three questions that a medical student should ask about their social history?
Every medical student is taught the three basic questions to ask for social history. “Do you drink any alcohol? Do you do any drugs? Do you smoke cigarettes?” While these are three very important questions to help us address potential health hazards with patients, they fail to identify some of the most significant factors in the lives of adolescent patients. Specifically, vaping in adolescents poses a grave risk to patients’ health and is a topic that physicians have to confront.
Can vaping be used to inhale cannabinoids?
Many vaping devices can also be used to inhale cannabinoids. One study demonstrated that teens who use nicotine liquid in e-cigarettes were 3.6 to 4 times more likely to use marijuana in the next two years.1Another study demonstrated that 1 in 10 seniors in high school vape cannabis.6This should be extremely distressing to physicians and medical providers because it is known that marijuana is extremely harmful to the development of the adolescent brain and studies have actually shown changes in brain structure. As a result, deficits in attention, learning, and memory associated with cannabis use in adolescents has been reported.11One study demonstrated that high schoolers who use marijuana were four times more likely to have multiple sexual partners when compared to students who only use tobacco or alcohol.12A sizable portion of adolescents who use marijuana report symptoms of paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations.13. Adverse effects from marijuana use, including cannabis hyperemesis syndrome have become common among pediatric patients.14
Do e-cigarettes increase the chance of smoking?
There has also been evidence that suggests e-cigarette use increases an individual’s chance of using combustible cigarettes . Adolescents who use e-cigarettes are 3.6 times more likely to report using combustible cigarettes later in life.9Teens have also been shown to be more susceptible to addiction. We know that nicotine addiction often originates in adolescence with studies showing that close to 90% of adult daily smokers started before the age of 18.10Thus, e-cigarettes are effectively helping to create a new generation addicted to nicotine.