The Doctors explain vaping can lead to lipoid pneumonia (a rare type of infection caused by lipids that enter the lungs), acute respiratory distress syndrome (when fluid fills up the air sacs in your lungs), and chemical pneumonitis (inflammation of the lung caused by aspirating or inhaling irritants).
Full Answer
Should you ask your doctor if you vape?
As a younger pulmonologist aware of the popularity of vaping among teens and adolescents, he asks patients specifically not only whether they vape, but what they vape with, and even asks to see the product — but notes this isn’t common practice among the primary care doctors you see for your annual physical.
Does vaping count as smoking?
Doctors typically haven’t told patients that vaping counts as smoking, or asked them specifically whether they vape, allowing the behavior to escape their notice.
Should vaping be treated in the emergency department?
When patients show up to the emergency department in respiratory distress from vaping, it's challenging for physicians to treat them. This is due to the difficulty in correctly identifying what they inhaled, especially when they are intubated or unconscious. The length of time spent vaping can be much longer than smoking a standard cigarette.
Do teens know more about vaping than their parents?
Unfortunately, today's teens, and even tweens, know more about vaping than their parents. E-cigarettes and vaping are part of a trend going back at least nine years in the U.S. 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.
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 difficult?
This is due to the difficulty in correctly identifying what they inhaled, especially when they are intubated or unconscious.
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.
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
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.
Do doctors ask if you smoke?
The rise of vaping has complicated matters, though. Doctors typically haven’t told patients that vaping counts as smoking, or asked them specifically whether they vape, allowing the behavior to escape their notice. But amid an outbreak of a lung illness apparently related to vaping — which has affected at least 530 and killed seven people in the US, per the Centers for Disease Control — it’s suddenly pretty important for us to be honest with our doctors about vaping.
Can vaping cause asthma?
Being upfront about your vaping habit can allow your doctor to inform you exactly about how it can affect your livelihood — including the less dire scenarios that can result, which are still pretty terrible, says Jamie Rutland, a pulmonary and critical care physician and professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine. Even if it doesn’t end up giving you lung disease, vaping can cause a ton of inflammation in your airway, which may trigger an asthma attack or asthma exacerbation, according to Rutland. As a younger pulmonologist aware of the popularity of vaping among teens and adolescents, he asks patients specifically not only whether they vape, but what they vape with, and even asks to see the product — but notes this isn’t common practice among the primary care doctors you see for your annual physical.
Why is it important to communicate with a doctor about vaping?
Communicating with one’s healthcare professional creates truth between patient and the doctor. It also gives the doctor the chance to monitor the patient’s health. Other doctors are urging people to stop vaping all together, as there are several stories of individuals being harmed by the entire vaping process. If you or someone you know struggles with vaping or struggles to stop, contact a medical professional to determine the best care.
Can vaping affect your mind?
Other risks include developmental effects on the brain, “which can impact moods and attention,” combining E-cigarettes with other drugs, harmful impacts on one’s mind, and second-hand smoke. When someone becomes addicted to vaping, he or she may feel relaxed when they are smoking. Consequently, stopping suddenly can create uncomfortable feelings of cravings.
Does vaping cause shortness of breath?
Doctors found there were additional symptoms, like shortness of breath, weight loss, coughing, all of which have been pinpointed to vape use. What was interesting in the lung illness patterns was the inclusion of THC, “with or without nicotine.” As a result, doctors are informing people to be honest with their physicians and get treated immediately.
Is vaping harmful to teens?
There is much literature and information concerning the impact of vaping on adolescents. Between 2011 to 2015, there was a spike in teen vaping cases. Vape pens, e-hookahs, tank systems and mods contain may contains THC and other harmful chemical s that put smokers at risk of lung problems. More specifically, the THC in some vaping materials put users at risk of addiction. Similar to other addictive chemicals in drugs, the feelings of pleasure smoking vape pens create can activate the brain’s reward system.
Is vaping THC safe?
Dr. King: I think that vaping THC, it's safe to say that is significantly less safe than using some of these nicotine containing products. When you look at the series of patients that the CDC has reported on that have developed this severe lung injury in association with vaping, the majority of those people used a THC containing device.
What does vaping do to the lungs?
Dr. Jablonski: There's been a very wide spectrum of types of lung injury that we've seen in response to use of these vaping products. And what we think is that the inhalation of some either toxic substance or substances causes irritation and inflammation in the lungs that leads to these lung injuries that we're seeing.
Are there other additives in vaping products that can affect your health?
Dr. Jablonski: We know that there are carcinogens in these products. And a lot of products contain flavors as well. And those flavors can be various compounds that are used to impart that on the vape liquid.
Andrea King, PhD
Andrea King, PhD, is a psychiatrist who focuses on tobacco and alcohol addiction, assessment and treatment of substance use disorders, and cancer prevention and control.
Renea Jablonski, MD
Dr. Renea Jablonski is a pulmonologist at UChicago Medicine. She takes care of patients with chronic lung diseases, and specializes in patients with diseases related to smoking and lung fibrosis.
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Do pulmonologists ask patients to vape?
But in exam rooms, the illnesses have prompted a less-noticed but equally significant shift: Doctors, particularly pulmonologists, are asking patients whether they vape, even when they’re not presenting symptoms of the mysterious illness.
Is vaping a cause of illness?
But many did not consider making questions about vaping part of their standard protocol, even as the popularity of vaping has surged. Vaping wasn’t widely seen to be a cause of illness in healthy young people; it was also seen as an option for smokers trying to wean themselves off nicotine cigarettes.
EIHYPI Moved On ECF Veteran
Does their opinion matter? That's a question that I got in my head when I visited this doctor for the first time today. She asked me if I smoke cigarettes so I told her not for about 3 and a half years. Although I did mention after that I had been using electronic cigarettes for about 3 and a half years. Her reaction upset me very much.
Beamslider Vaping Master Verified Member ECF Veteran
I have spoken to my primary care doctor, a urologist and a cardiologist about my vaping. They all told me it was better than smoking.
EIHYPI Moved On ECF Veteran
I have spoken to my primary care doctor, a urologist and a cardiologist about my vaping. They all told me it was better than smoking.
Tonee N Vaping Master Verified Member ECF Veteran
I have spoken to my primary care doctor, a urologist and a cardiologist about my vaping. They all told me it was better than smoking.
ScottP Vaping Master Verified Member ECF Veteran
Threads with this same basic topic pop up all the time. Print out some of the real reports, like the ones from Dr. F, or the new one from Scotland where real Dr's are saying that vaping is 95% safer than smoking. Take these print outs with you when you go in again. Or better yet drop them off asap.
dennism Ultra Member ECF Veteran
After I told her 4 years no smoking but vaping for the same time, she gave me a high five.
ScottP Vaping Master Verified Member ECF Veteran
Unfortunately I didn't. She seemed the type that was a little hard headed. Plus it was my first time seeing her so I didn't want to possibly get into an argument with her about it. I definitely thought about educating her but my intuition told me it's not a good idea.