What is the dangerous science behind vaping?
When they get heated up, those components can turn into other potentially dangerous chemicals.” One harmful chemical may be a thickening agent called Vitamin E acetate, which is sometimes used as an additive in THC-containing vape products. The CDC identified it as a “chemical of concern” among people with vaping-associated lung injuries.
Is vaping actually that bad for You?
Vaping is not safe, with or without nicotine. But vaping nicotine-containing products further increases the risk of addiction. Nicotine dependence is one of the major risks of vaping with nicotine. A 2015 study suggests that people who vape with nicotine are more likely to become dependent on nicotine than people who vape without nicotine.
Why is vaping better for you than smoking?
Vaping yields better flavor than smoking. Vaping gives you a better taste of the flavonoids, and you’re able to feel the flavors of the different brands of marijuana products you’re vaping. Therefore, vaping delivers a richer and purer vapor, unlike smoking, which produces several other substances that mask the flavors of your joint.
What can you tell someone about vaping?
- The FDA has called teen vaping an “epidemic”
- Juul, which resembles a small flash drive, is the most popular e-cigarette amongst underage users
- Look for signs including increased thirst, irritability, nosebleeds, and restlessness
Is vaping better than smoking?
Can vaping cause smoking?
What are scientific facts about vaping?
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. ... 2: Research suggests vaping is bad for your heart and lungs. ... 3: Electronic cigarettes are just as addictive as traditional ones.
How harmful is vaping?
The e-cigarette aerosol that users breathe from the device and exhale can contain harmful and potentially harmful substances, including: Nicotine. Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. Flavorings such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease.
Why is vaping healthy?
This is because using e-cigarettes, when not used in combination with regular cigarettes, produce a significantly lower level of carcinogens and chemicals than do traditional tobacco cigarettes, the study found.
What are 5 risks of vaping?
5 Dangers of VapingUnknown Chemicals.Illicit Substance Additives.Vaping Impacts Brain Development.Long-Term Lung Damage.Marketing and Media Influence.
Can your lungs heal from vaping?
Breathing in the harmful chemicals from vaping products can cause irreversible (cannot be cured) lung damage, lung disease and, in some cases, death.
What is the safest vape to use?
If you are looking for the safest vape kit then you might want to consider disposables or pod kits. These are often low powered and have safety cuts offs as well as other features to prevent them from overheating. Not only as disposables one of the safest vape kits, but they are also super easy to use.
Is vaping good for anxiety?
Stress and anxiety can trigger vape cravings, and make it harder for you to quit for good. You may be tempted to reach for your vape when you have these feelings, but vaping is not an effective way to cope. There are healthy and effective ways to deal with stress and anxiety.
How many kids are vaping?
2022 Findings on Youth E-Cigarette Use 14.1% (2.14 million) of high school students and 3.3% (380,000) of middle school students reported current e-cigarette use.
Whats worse cigarettes or vaping?
Vaping nicotine is less harmful than smoking cigarettes, but it doesn't mean vaping is harmless, or easy to quit once started. Curiosity, experimentation, and fitting in with peers can quickly become a lifelong addiction with dangerous and costly consequences.
What does vaping do to your brain?
The majority of vape liquids contain nicotine. In addition to being highly addictive, nicotine alters the neurotransmitters in the brain. It has been found to slow brain development in teens and affect memory, decision-making, concentration, self-control, and mood.
Is vaping without nicotine harmful?
Some vape product manufacturers claim that vaping is a completely safe alternative to smoking. However, early research into the safety of the practice suggests this is not the case. In fact, it appears that vaping, even without nicotine, can have harmful effects on the body.
Should I tell my doctor I vape?
Whether that was a few clove cigarettes every weekend in college, inhaling hookah a few times a year, marijuana, vaping or using cigarettes, it all falls under the umbrella of “smoking,” and it's important for your doctor to know if you're smoking now or have in the past.
What are 10 risks of vaping?
Serious & Potentially Long-Term Effects of VapingNicotine addiction.Severe lung injury.Seizures.Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP), formerly known as idiopathic bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia (BOOP)Popcorn lung.Strokes.Heart attacks.
What does vaping do to your brain?
Brain Risks These risks include nicotine addiction, mood disorders, and permanent lowering of impulse control. Nicotine also changes the way synapses are formed, which can harm the parts of the brain that control attention and learning.
What are the long-term effects of vaping?
Side Effects of Vaping Nicotine: The biggest side effect of vaping nicotine is developing a nicotine addiction. Other side effects of nicotine include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. High doses of nicotine may cause tachycardia, high blood pressure, seizures, coma and death.
Is vaping without nicotine harmful?
Some vape product manufacturers claim that vaping is a completely safe alternative to smoking. However, early research into the safety of the practice suggests this is not the case. In fact, it appears that vaping, even without nicotine, can have harmful effects on the body.
Is vaping better than smoking?
Based on the best available evidence, scientists agree that vaping is less harmful than smoking. This is largely due to the fact that cigarettes contain many more toxic chemicals than the e-liquid in e-cigarettes. It is also important that two of the most dangerous chemicals in cigarettes, carbon monoxide and tar, are not present in e-cigarettes. This is why the World Health Organisation says that e-cigarettes are “less toxic for the smoker than conventional cigarettes”.
Can vaping cause smoking?
Critics also argue that vaping may cause young people to take up smoking. This is known as the ‘gateway theory’. They argue that if young people become accustomed to nicotine thanks to vaping, they will one day want to try ‘the real thing’.
The Gateway Theory
If policy makers understood this, they would be less inclined to restrict access to vaping products. Jean-François Etter
The origins
The Gateway Theory is saying that vaping among young people who don’t smoke will cause smoking in this population, later. It is a theory of causality and very hard to prove. Jean-François Etter
Vaping and smoking, a different description in scientific literature
In order to establish this theory, researchers first have to define the behaviors of vaping and smoking.
9 criteria to establish causality for the Gateway Theory
A British epidemiologist, Austin Bradford Hill, has had a lot of influence in the 1960s for establishing the link between smoking and cancer. He defined nine criteria to establish the causality link. A causes B if:
Conclusion: The evidence of a gateway effect is very hard to obtain
In conclusion, evidence of a gateway effect is very hard to obtain. The common liability model is plausible and a better base for policy making and research.
Comment by Konstantinos Farsalinos
In order to support the gateway theory, we need to demonstrate that people who never used any tobacco cigarette got addicted to nicotine through vaping and then, switch to smoking because of their addiction. So many other parameters could interfere which make this theory very weak.
Comment by Riccardo Polosa
The Gateway theory is completely destroyed by looking at the smoking rates. In countries where vaping has been adopted by people, the smoking prevalence is decreasing. If vaping was the cause of smoking, there should be the other way. The gateway is out of smoking, not to smoking.
How many people died from vaping in 2020?
As of Jan. 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 60 deaths in patients with e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI).
Why are e-cigarettes so popular?
First, many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes have a lower per-use cost than traditional cigarettes.
How many chemicals are in e-cigarettes?
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. While we don’t know exactly what chemicals are in e-cigarettes, Blaha says “there’s almost no doubt that they expose you to fewer toxic chemicals than traditional cigarettes.”
How many people want to quit smoking?
If you have thought about trying to kick a smoking habit, you’re not alone. Nearly 7 of 10 smokers say they want to stop. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health — smoking harms nearly every organ in your body, including your heart. Nearly one-third of deaths from heart disease are the result of smoking and secondhand smoke.
Is nicotine a substance?
Nicotine is the primary agent in both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and it is highly addictive. It causes you to crave a smoke and suffer withdrawal symptoms if you ignore the craving. Nicotine is also a toxic substance. It raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases your heart rate and the likelihood of having a heart attack.
Can you use THC in a vape?
The CDC recommends that people: Do not use THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products. Avoid using informal sources, such as friends, family or online dealers to obtain a vaping device. Do not modify or add any substances to a vaping device that are not intended by the manufacturer.
Is e-cigarettes as addictive as heroin?
Both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes contain nicotine, which research suggests may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine. What’s worse, says Blaha, many e-cigarette users get even more nicotine than they would from a tobacco product — you can buy extra-strength cartridges, which have a higher concentration of nicotine, or you can increase the e-cigarette’s voltage to get a greater hit of the substance.
Segment Guests
Aruni Bhatnagar is a professor of medicine, in the cardiology division, at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.
Segment Transcript
IRA FLATOW: This is Science Friday. I’m Ira Flatow. Do you vape? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you are not part of the e-cigarette revolution. Over the last decade, e-cigarette use has skyrocketed, especially among young people.
Meet the Producer
Christie Taylor is a producer for Science Friday. Her day involves diligent research, too many phone calls for an introvert, and asking scientists if they have any audio of that narwhal heartbeat.
How many people use e-cigarettes?
A little more than 3% of American adults regularly use e-cigarettes, and 15% say they have tried them, according to 2016 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That means millions of Americans vape, either consistently or sporadically — and there’s evidence that the number is rising.
What are e-cigarettes used for?
As they become more prevalent, e-cigarettes — which are typically used as alternatives to traditional cigarettes, or as smoking cessation aids — are coming under increasing scrutiny from doctors and regulatory groups. Youth recreational use, in particular, has drawn the attention of lawmakers and public health experts, ...
What is the flavoring agent used in cinnamon?
The American Thoracic Society also recently released data from human cell research that connects another common flavoring agent called cinnamaldehyde, which is used in cinnamon flavors, to lung damage.
What is the chemical in e-cigs?
A 2016 study linked diacetyl, a chemical often used in e-cig flavoring agents, to a serious respiratory condition nicknamed popcorn lung.
Can you smoke e-cigarettes at 18?
E-cigarettes may contribute to teen smoking. E-cigarettes cannot legally be sold to anyone under age 18, but that hasn’t stopped teenage use from skyrocketing over the years.
Is e-cigarette smoke harmful?
While e-cigarette aero sol “generally contains fewer harmful chemicals than smoke from burned tobacco products,” according to the CDC, it still may pose some risks. Formulas vary, but many e-cigarettes expose users to particles that can get into the lungs, potentially cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins, according to the CDC. A new study published in Scientific Reports also found that e-cigarette aerosol may contain more formaldehyde than previously estimated. Formaldehyde can be carcinogenic at high levels of exposure, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Do e-cigarettes help smokers quit smoking?
Some studies, including one published in The BMJ in 2017, have found that e-cigarettes may improve a smoker’s chances of quitting successfully, but others have found the opposite.
What is vaping a cigarette?
A "vape," or electronic cigarette, is a device that heats up a liquid to create a vapor you inhale. Some types of vaping devices include pens, e-cigarettes (like JUUL), ...
How does vaping work?
Vaping devices can vary in shape, size and color. Devices produce an aerosol byproduct from heating up a liquid that sometimes consists of flavorings and other chemicals that make vaping seem less harsh (initially at least) than smoking. This liquid delivers nicotine, marijuana, or other drugs to the user via a mouthpiece that is inhaled into the lungs then expelled via the mouth or nose.
How does nicotine affect the brain?
Nicotine use affects how the synapses—connections between brain cells— are formed. Regular usage in adolescence can also increase the risk for future addiction to cigarettes and other drugs. Other than nicotine, vaping liquid and subsequent vapor may include other harmful substances including: Cancer-causing chemicals.
How many people died from vaping in 2019?
There were morethan2,500cases of users being hospitalized for vaping-related injury as of December 17, 2019. Vaping has also led to 54 deaths across 27 states and the District of Columbia.
What is Juulpod nicotine?
While many of these products typically feature a liquid containing one-third-to-half the nicotine found in a cigarette —for example, one 5% strength JUULpod is designed to replace an entire pack of cigarettes in nicotine strength—vaping users still face many health and safety risks.
How many kids use e-cigarettes in high school?
According to 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) data, 3.6 million children in middle school and high school use e-cigarettes. Use, defined by at least once per day over the past 30 days, has increased 78 percent from 11.7 to 20.8 percent in 2018.
Does vaping put you at risk?
Vaping manufacturers knowingly put you at risk
Is vaping better than smoking?
Based on the best available evidence, scientists agree that vaping is less harmful than smoking. This is largely due to the fact that cigarettes contain many more toxic chemicals than the e-liquid in e-cigarettes. It is also important that two of the most dangerous chemicals in cigarettes, carbon monoxide and tar, are not present in e-cigarettes. This is why the World Health Organisation says that e-cigarettes are “less toxic for the smoker than conventional cigarettes”.
Can vaping cause smoking?
Critics also argue that vaping may cause young people to take up smoking. This is known as the ‘gateway theory’. They argue that if young people become accustomed to nicotine thanks to vaping, they will one day want to try ‘the real thing’.
The Gateway Theory
The Origins
- The Gateway theoryoriginated in the 1970s, at a time when heroin consumption was increasing. It was a descriptive theory, most people thought that the use of marijuana led to the use of heroin, in a second step. This belief was a mix of scientific, political, popular and media theories of causality between marijuana and heroin use. It has still not been established, actually. The essence of the …
Vaping and Smoking, A Different Description in Scientific Literature
- In order to establish this theory, researchers first have to define the behaviors of vaping and smoking. In most of the scientific literature the use of an e-cigarette is not satisfactorily described as a measure of vaping since a single episode is not enough to say that someone is vaping. The same applies for past 30-day use that is also a frequen...
9 Criteria to Establish Causality For The Gateway Theory
- A British epidemiologist, Austin Bradford Hill, has had a lot of influence in the 1960s for establishing the link between smoking and cancer. He defined nine criteria to establish the causality link. A causes B if:
Conclusion: The Evidence of A Gateway Effect Is Very Hard to Obtain
- In conclusion, evidence of a gateway effect is very hard to obtain. The common liability model is plausible and a better base for policy making and research. Nevertheless, in spite of its weaknesses and the lack of data to support the gateway theory, it has an enormous political influence to discourage people from vaping and increase smoking with a strong negative effect. …
Comment by Konstantinos Farsalinos
- In order to support the gateway theory, we need to demonstrate that people who never used any tobacco cigarette got addicted to nicotine through vaping and then, switch to smoking because of their addiction. So many other parameters could interfere which make this theory very weak. If there were no restriction on e-cigarette sales, it would probably be easier for a young who wants …
Comment by Riccardo Polosa
- The Gateway theory is completely destroyed by looking at the smoking rates. In countries where vaping has been adopted by people, the smoking prevalence is decreasing. If vaping was the cause of smoking, there should be the other way. The gateway is out of smoking, not tosmoking.