Orlando, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — While the dangers of cigarettes are well-known, more teens today are reaching for e-cigarettes, believing they’re a safer choice. But new research suggests vaping may be more dangerous than you think. About one point six million students now use vapes regularly. And experts say the long-term damage could be devastating.
Vaping has quickly become a popular vice among teens. And while some believe it’s safer than cigarettes, the jury is still out.
“We don’t know what this may cause 20 years down the road,” said Ilona Jaspers, PhD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
New research suggests the nicotine in vapes raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which could increase your risk of a heart attack. Vaping can also damage your lungs. New research out of Johns Hopkins suggests vaping can increase the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. And the CDC confirms it’s more than just a risk: as of 2020, vaping has been linked to 2,807 cases of lung injury and 68 deaths nationwide.
“What’s different from water vapor than from what cigarette smoke is, is that the vapor particles can get so very, very tiny, they actually can get deeper down into your lungs than potentially the smoke particles from just a cigarette,” said Cynthia Gries, MD, Medical Director of the Lung Transplant Program at Advent Health.
And vapes deliver a high dose of nicotine fast, getting teens addicted much quicker than cigarettes.
“With vaping, you only need to use it once and you can wind up on the ventilator and shorten your life from dying at the age of 80 to dying at the age of 25. So, I think that hopefully that’s a huge wake-up call,” explained Gries.
Vaping has also been linked to popcorn lung, a serious condition that scars and narrows the airways, often caused by inhaling chemicals like diacetyl found in some vape flavors. And a study in the Journal of Oncology Research and Therapy found that people who both vape and smoke cigarettes are four times more likely to develop lung cancer than those who only smoke.
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