Hospitalized teenager after treating THC: "My lungs look like those of a 70 year old man"

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 200 cases of serious respiratory illnesses potentially related to spraying. The agency confirms that at least one person died of a disease related to vaping.

Government health investigators say they have discovered a chemical – an oil derived from vitamin E – found in samples of vaping products with marijuana patients from all over the country who became ill after being vaped. In a case that shows the potential dangers of vapors of unknown or uncertain substances, an Illinois teenager spoke to CBS News about his near-death experience.

Adam Hergenreder, of Gurnee, Illinois, has been hospitalized since last week. "I'm 18. My lungs look like those of a 70-year-old man," he said.

Hergenreder said to be volatilized with THC, the main ingredient in marijuana. "I had it at a dealer."

Correspondent Dean Reynolds asked: "You buy it on the street to a guy you do not really know, in hindsight, do you think it was a little silly?"

"Yes," he replied. "When you're addicted to that, I do not think it goes through your head."

Shortly after, Hergenreder became feverish, started to vomit and was out of breath. His mother, Polly, took him to the hospital where he went directly to the intensive care unit.

"It's probably the nightmare of all parents," she said. "And we could not make Adam better."

"Have you ever thought your son could die?" Reynolds asked.

"Yes, because we were told that he would have done it."

Hergenreder told Reynolds that he was running out of steam for about two years to get the nicotine buzz, then the high of marijuana. Now, he says, when he tries to take a deep breath, "Most of the time, he ends up coughing."

He now says that he regrets it. "Of course, my lungs will never be the same again."

Dr. Stephen Amesbury, a pulmonologist at Hergenreder, fears that the current crisis is only a beginning.

Reynolds asked, "Do you have any doubt that vaping is responsible for this?"

"There does not seem to be anything else in these cases," said Dr. Amesbury. "We are looking for other potential causes, but we did not find anything else – coincidentally, all of these people are out of breath."

Contaminants and counterfeit vaping products are of interest to health officials who are investigating these diseases. Although the potential link with vitamin E oil is important, the FDA believes that many tests are needed to determine the cause of what makes people sick.