In recent years, the use of e-cigarettes and vape pens have been growing in popularity. Due to the fact that these products are relatively new, the damages of vaping are just being discovered. There is a lot that we have recently uncovered, and the FDA is still continuously developing its regulations for these types of products. Regardless, there is still a lot that we do not yet know about the effects of vaping. Here is what we do and don’t know about vaping and lung damage.
What is Vaping?
Vaping is the use of items like e-cigarettes (or JUUULs) and vape pens to smoke. The substances used are usually nicotine or marijuana. However, like with traditional cigarettes, there are often additional substances and chemicals included with the nicotine or THC. These products use a battery to heat up the vape liquid, and even more, chemicals can arise as a result of this causing chemical reactions. The chemicals can include things like carcinogens, acrolein, Propylene glycol, diacetyl, Diethylene glycol, Cadmium, and Benzene. All of these chemicals can potentially cause cancers and other lung diseases when frequently breathed in. Vape liquid has been shown to also contain some heavy metals like nickel, tin, and lead. These substances can be very damaging to the lungs when inhaled as well.
What We Don’t Know
Although experts already know that putting these types of chemicals into your lungs on a regular basis is not a good idea and that these can cause lung damage, there is still a lot that is still left unknown when it comes to vaping. For example, we do know that vaping can cause lung disease, but the specifics are still yet to be discovered. We do not know who is most at risk of developing lung damage or what specific substance from vape liquid leads to lung disease. All of these unanswered questions are due to the fact that these products are new, and FDA regulations on them are still evolving. Hopefully, we will learn as much about vaping as we do about smoking cigarettes as time progresses. However, it is still best to avoid these products until we learn more about the risks involved.
What We Do Know
However, there are some conclusions that have been made about vaping and lung damage. It has been learned that all of the reports of lung disease from vaping have not been linked to any specific brands of e-cigarettes, vape pens, or vape liquid. This means that the culprit behind the lung damage from vaping is likely included in all, or most, vaping brands and products. It is also, of course, know that vaping has been linked to lung damage even though we do not know the specific causing agent. In addition to this, nicotine and marijuana are both addictive substances that may require a Houston drug rehab program if dependency becomes too great. Luckily, these can usually be done from home because the withdrawal symptoms of both substances are not life-threatening.
Some other Things to Consider
There are some other very real dangers of using JUUULs and vape pens that may make you consider going through a drug detox to stop using them. “Although rarely the primary source of addiction treatment, e-cigarettes are often combined with other substances and reinforce the main addiction”, says Mat Gorman, CEO at Briarwood Detox Center. The first is that vaping makes an individual more likely to take up smoking traditional cigarettes, which have their own set of health concerns. Similar to smoking cigarettes, vaping during pregnancy can be dangerous for a developing fetus. However, there are a few concerns that are only relevant to vape pens and e-cigarettes. Both of these products use a battery, and, as you can probably imagine, they can be defective at times. As result burnings and even explosions have occurred because of this problem. This can be extremely dangerous if it happens at the wrong place at the wrong time. The next issue is potentially life-threatening. Accidental exposure to vape liquid containing nicotine has caused acute nicotine poisoning in both children and adults. For this reason, vape pens should always be treated with care and kept out of reach of children.
Conclusion
Vaping from vape pens and e-cigarettes, or JUUULs, is a relatively new fad that has been only growing in popularity. Because of this, there is still a lot that experts do not know about vaping and its effects on the lungs. However, this does not mean that vaping is completely risk free. There are many potential risks of using vaping products including nicotine or marijuana addiction, potential exposure to acute nicotine poisoning, and burns from defective batteries. Of course, lung damage is a very real danger to vaping as well. It is best to avoid vaping if you wish to avoid these types of dangers. However, it is predicted that we will learn more about vaping as time goes on.