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Adam Hergenreder started vaping about two years ago (2017) at the age of 16. The aromas of mint and mango were his favorite.
Now Adam, of Gurnee, in Illinois, USA, is hospitalized and is unable to breathe without a steady flow of oxygen through tubes attached to his nostrils.
The doctors told this 18-year-old man that the images of his lungs drawn from a chest x-ray looked like those of a 70-year-old man.
His lungs may never be the same and it is likely that vaping is the cause.
Adam is one of at least 27 patients with a history of vaping who have been hospitalized in recent weeks in Illinois for an unknown respiratory illness.
Last month (August 2019), one of these patients died and more than 200 more cases were reported in 24 other states late last week, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The agency is assisting the Illinois Department of Public Health to investigate these cases jointly with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Public health officials advise people to stop taking vapors when trying to determine the cause of the serious respiratory illness, the types of products used by patients and whether they contain nicotine or THC – the main psychoactive compound marijuana that creates a high dose.
Adam stated that he had started using nicotine vapes and that he had bought them at convenience stores, even though he was a minor.
But last year (2018), he also started buying THC-filled devices, called sticks buffers, in the street. These products are often modified by those who sell them illegally.
Professionals in the vaping industry blamed the recent wave of hospitalizations on illegal and homemade devices, although public health experts said they could not confirm it.
Ignored warnings
Even before the hospitalizations, doctors and addiction experts had warned of the danger of vapes, or electronic cigarettes, popular among young people.
In addition to the addictive properties of nicotine, they also contain chemicals used as flavoring agents that can harm the lungs.
But as more and more young people appear in emergency rooms and have trouble breathing, officials reinforce public warnings and impose new restrictions on e-cigarettes.
Michigan became the first US state to ban all flavored electronic cigarettes earlier this month (September 2019).
Adam stated that he and his peers had heard the warnings from teachers and parents, but did not believe "how dangerous it was".
He continued to vape – up to half a capsule a day.
"People only see this little capsule (of vape) and wonder how it could do anything for my body?" Said Adam from his hospital bed at the Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, in Illinois, where his mother took him after spending days throwing up violently.
"I'm happy to be able to serve as an example and show people that vaping products are not good at all. They will ruin your lungs. "
"Something is wrong"
Adam said that he had begun to feel like he had had the flu and had begun to vomit.
When he could not stop, he woke his mother the next morning, but after an emergency visit and anti-nausea medication, he seemed to get better, said his mother Polly Hergenreder.
Public health officials said some of the people with the unknown illness reported vomiting or diarrhea, as well as progressive breathing difficulties, shortness of breath or chest pain.
When Adam started vomiting again, Polly took his son to another nearby emergency room (Condell), where a doctor ordered him to examine his stomach.
This analysis caught the bottom of her lungs, revealing that "something was wrong," she said.
Adam was then hospitalized and put under oxygen because he was having trouble breathing. "This doctor saved my child's life," she said.
Thanks to oxygen, steroids and antibiotics, Adam's condition has improved, said Dr. Stephen Amesbury, one of his pulmonologists.
If this continues, he can return home in a few days.
But it will take weeks, if not months, to recover his lungs, Dr. Amesbury said, and scars from inflammation could cause permanent damage.
"Only time and additional lung tests will determine whether it will return to normal," added Dr. Amesbury, who said he has looked after other young people with a lung related disease. to vaping.
I can not stop vaping
Dr. Amesbury explained that it was difficult to know exactly which vaping product or ingredient was damaging Adam's lungs.
"I do not think anyone knows for sure the exact mechanism of the injury, or what ingredient or contaminant in the product (vaping) is causing this outbreak of hospitalized young people for these serious lung injuries," did he declare.
"But clearly (vaping) … will lead to more and more consequences for health and a whole new generation of nicotine users."
Polly said she and her husband had warned their four sons of nausea, including talking about the mysterious respiratory illness and recent death.
If she found an electronic cigarette at home, she would throw it away.
"My children knew that I was against it and my husband was against it," she said. "But they will do their own thing. It's addictive. "
She said that she was surprised that her son wanted to vape, given his disgust for tobacco cigarettes.
Adam stated that he had never smoked cigarettes or used other drugs, but that he could not stop vaping.
"I would hit him more and more," he said. "I'll cough up right after that."
Family members have said they want to tell their story in the hope that others will avoid e-cigarettes, which will appeal to teenagers because the thin, rectangular devices are easy to hide and do not smell like traditional cigarettes. .
The appliances heat a pod containing a flavored liquid that may contain nicotine or THC, which creates an aerosol to inhale.
"I feel stupid," said Adam. "I want others to stop (vaping). This will attack your lungs. "- Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service
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