What are the dangers of vaping in youth?

What are the dangers of vaping in youth? There are many kinds of electronic cigarettes on the market today, but the electronic cigarettes we are talking about today are called "electronic nicotine delivery systems" by the World Health Organization. Electronic cigarettes not only produce many known harmful substances, but also some new harmful substances unique to electronic nicotine delivery systems, that is, toxic substances that traditional cigarettes do not produce, including glyoxal, etc. Different brands of electronic cigarettes, or even different products of the same brand, may have huge differences in the content of toxic substances. At the same time, electronic cigarettes also have serious safety hazards such as explosion risks.

What are the dangers of youth vaping?

There is little evidence on the short- and long-term effects of e-cigarette exposure and use, but some evidence has revealed the potential health risks of e-cigarettes. The World Health Organization report has shown that with the increase in e-cigarette use, the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer will increase, as well as the risk of cardiovascular disease and some other diseases related to smoking.

A population survey in Beijing found that 34.7% of e-cigarette users experienced throat irritation and even cough, dry mouth, nausea, headache and other adverse reactions. A recent report by the U.S. Surgeon General found that adolescent exposure to nicotine may affect brain development, cause attention and cognitive deficits, and affect mood. A study of South Korean high school students found that students who used e-cigarettes were 2.7 times more likely to develop asthma than non-users, and 15.4 times more likely to take four or more days of sick leave because of asthma. A study of e-cigarette use and respiratory illness among youth in Hong Kong, China, yielded similar results. In addition, the risk of bronchitis increased nearly threefold among American high school students who vaped, and the harm of teenage e-cigarette use increased with the current frequency of use, which should not be underestimated.

E-cigarettes may have effects on multiple organs and systems throughout the body, of which the respiratory system is the most affected. E-cigarette aerosols can increase the production of inflammatory factors in the respiratory tract, leading to chronic airway inflammation, which in turn reduces human lung function. This adverse effect is very similar to the pathogenesis of COPD caused by smoking.

In addition, diacetyl, which plays a flavoring role in electronic cigarettes, is very unsafe under heating. Inhalation of this substance by the human body can lead to a serious and irreversible lung disease - bronchiolitis obliterans, which can be found from pathological characteristics. We call it "popcorn lung".

What are the dangers of youth vaping? According to the latest data, 2,051 cases of lung injury related to e-cigarette use have been reported in the United States, of which 39 people have died. In most of these cases, the cannabis-like substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) e-cigarettes were used, but the exact cause is still under investigation.

The nicotine in e-cigarettes will adversely affect the cardiovascular system, increasing the release of catecholamines in the body, leading to increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, vasoconstriction, and damage to the vascular endothelium, promoting the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis, increasing myocardial infarction and cerebral risk of stroke.

In addition, the nicotine content in e-cigarettes is often high, and excessive nicotine can lead to poisoning in the human body. Studies have shown that excessive nicotine intake can cause symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and even death. For children with weaker immune systems, ingestion of just a few milligrams of nicotine can be fatal.

The gas of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in e-cigarette liquid can directly stimulate the respiratory tract, nasal cavity and oral mucosa, resulting in cough, rhinitis, pharyngitis, etc., which can seriously lead to cancer of the blood system such as leukemia. E-cigarettes contain a carbonyl compound, volatile organic compounds, nitrosamines and heavy metals and other substances themselves are strong carcinogens, with potential carcinogenic effects.

What are the dangers of youth vaping? What is particularly worrying is that e-cigarettes also contain unknown substances that are not listed on their product labels, and their health effects need further research.