8 teenagers were hospitalized after using electronic cigarettes and here's what you need to know

The use of the electronic cigarette is rising high school students, according to one 2018 Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study. This study found that more than 3 million students were using electronic cigarettes – otherwise called vaping – in 2018, up from 220,000 in 2011. Today, eight teenagers have been hospitalized for "serious lung injury" to the Wisconsin Children's Hospital. The common denominator of these hospitalizations would be the use of electronic cigarettes by young people.

Jonathan Meiman, chief medical officer of the Wisconsin Health Services Department, told the Milwaulkee Journal Sentintel that the hospital is not sure of a single product that the eight teenagers have used that would cause such extensive lung lesions. However, he said: "We have a common theme: vaping." And at a press conference, the chief physician of Wisconsin Children's Hospital, Dr. Michael Gutzeit, said that even though young people were suffering from "various diseases," common theme is that "They all had fairly severe lung lesions."

Teens entered the hospital during one month, suffering from extreme cough and shortness of breath, accompanied by fatigue. Louella Amos, Pediatric Respirologist at Wisconsin Children's Hospital, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the teenagers had come to the hospital "were not breathing and were watching[ing] very sick … to the point where they can not breathe. Another 26-year-old from Burlington was taken to hospital in critical condition after emptying THC of a cartridge purchased from the store. street, the Sentinel reported.

According to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website, the symptoms presented by these teenagers can all be signs of lung damage due to smoking. And doctors and researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine warn that e-cigarettes can cause significant damage to the lungs and other health problems. And yet, the vapors of electronic cigarettes are increasing among teenagers across the country. Samir Soneji, badociate professor at the Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practices of Health Dartmouth, is leading a 2019 study published in the newspaper Public health reports, argues that this increase in popularity is directly related to the availability of electronic cigarette aroma. "Stricter regulation or the ban on flavored electronic cigarettes, such as fruits and sweets, can achieve the twin goals of reducing youth vaping," he said in a Dartmouth press release. about his study. cigarettes to help quit smoking.

However, according to the CDC, even electronic cigarettes advertised as not containing zero nicotine often contain the addictive substance. And according to a 2014 study published in the journal Tobacco control, inexperienced users tend to inhale less nicotine per puff than experienced smokers – but experienced cigarette smokers can inhale as much nicotine per puff of electronic cigarette as they do with a traditional cigarette.

In the case of adolescents admitted to the Wisconsin Children's Hospital for lung lesions due to the electronic cigarette, the experience of inhaling the maximum amount of nicotine per puff may not be relevant. Indeed, irrespective of the nicotine content of electronic cigarettes, flavored spray liquid per se can cause serious harm to users, leading to an increased risk of heart disease. Because if the variety of vaping aromas seems to attract a young clientele to the electronic cigarette market, a study of 2019 published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology have demonstrated that e-liquids used in flavored electronic cigarettes – irrespective of their nicotine content – significantly damage the body's endothelial cells, which line the interior of blood vessels and help to ensure that blood circulates properly throughout the body. body.

The study found that attractive aromas of e-liquids, such as cinnamon, caramel and vanilla, cause lesions consistent with lesions resulting in the development of heart disease. Thus, while teenagers in Wisconsin are showing signs of immediate lung injury due to the use of the electronic cigarette, the long-term health consequences can also, unfortunately, be severe.