Daily Archives: February 15, 2022

A teenager ended up on life support after waking up with what she thought was a cold.

But Juliet Roberts was actually battling lung damage and pneumonia caused by vaping since she was 14.

The 18-year-old was hospitalized in January after struggling to breathe.

She claims doctors told her years of constant vaping had ravaged her lungs and this, plus a reaction to a disposable vape, sparked pneumonia.

After being rushed to hospital Juliet ended up on life support for five days, and still needs to be on oxygen.

Now recovering at home, Juliet is still at risk of having a heart attack due to the strain on her weak lungs.

The waitress decided to share shocking photos of herself on life support to warn people ofthe dangers of vaping.

Juliet, from Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, US, said: I woke up feeling like I had a cold and just really didnt feel good, and as the days progressed I started feeling worse.

Three days later, I was sitting in my room and I went to stand up and I fell back down because I couldnt breathe, I thought I was going to pass out.

I called my boyfriend and told him I needed to go to the emergency room because I could tell something was wrong.

As soon as they checked my vitals three nurses rushed in because my oxygen was so low they couldnt believe I was walking.

After getting all the testing done my condition started worsening very quickly and I dont remember much after that.

From what Ive been told they put me on a ventilator and when that wasnt enough they put me on life support.

The doctors told me that if I hadnt made it there that night I wouldve lost my life. It was very scary.

They told me I was basically dying, Im so glad I went to the hospital when I did.

Juliet startedvapingat 14 when her school friends started using them and says she quickly became addicted, going through a disposable e-cigarette every two weeks.

It is rare, but people often teenagers have ended up with severe lung damage due to vaping.

The NHS advises vapes are far less harmful than cigarettes and can help you quit smoking for good, but they are not completely risk-free.

Adding: Almost all of the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic.

She told how the infection that nearly killed her made her lungs appear white on the x-ray, rather than the typical black depiction of healthy soft tissue.

Juliet said: When you get a lung x-ray its supposed to be black and the only white youre supposed to see is your ribs.

But my x-ray you could almost not even count some of my ribs because of how white it was.

That was because of the damage from thevapeand the pneumonia which I got from vaping.

Juliet has been told she will be out of work for between three to 12 months as her lungs recover.

She has to be careful to avoid catching any illnesses that could further strain her weak lungs.

The teen said: Right now my lungs are working so hard that if I overdo myself Im at risk of a heart attack my heart rate jumps to 150 when I go up the stairs, which is very dangerous.

My lungs will never go back to what they were before, they will just get strong enough for me to breathe on my own again.

They told me leaving the hospital that if I even got a common cold Id end up right back where I was because of how weak my lungs are at the minute.

My friends had to get Covid tests to come and see me just to make sure it was safe.

Juliet says doctors have warned her that because of the lasting damage done to her lungs, using a vape again could kill her.

After her traumatic experience the teen, who vows never to vape again, now hopes to encourage others to quit, insisting its not worth it.

Juliet said: I havent hit one since the day I went to the hospital and I dont plan on doing it ever again.

The doctor told me that it would end my life and thats all the information I need to quit for good.

I just want people to know that its really not worth it. I want it to be known that it is as dangerous as people say it is and its a lot more common than people think it is.

Shocking research found just how quicklyvapingcan affect the cells of healthy nonsmokers.

Just a single 30-minute vaping session can increase cellular oxidative stress.

This happens when there is an imbalance between free radicals molecules that cause damage to cells and antioxidants which fight free radicals.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.

Read more from the original source:

Teen goes on life support with lung damage vaping habit to blame - New York Post

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Vaping among youth is at the forefront of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Spectrum Healths Tobacco and Nicotine treatment efforts.

We know that nicotine is very harmful to the developing brain, said Caitlin Schucker, a tobacco treatment specialist at Spectrum Health.

On Thursday night, the groups held a virtual seminar to discuss efforts parents and the community can make to help prevent their children from vaping. Shucker joined the WOOD TV Live Desk Friday morning to highlight some of those specific efforts that can be made immediately.

Really just sitting down and having those conversations with your youth. We know it is never really too early to do so. The average age of trying a tobacco product in Newaygo county was actually 11 years old, said Schucker.

Shucker added that the most important factors when talking to your child about vaping are withholding judgement and not focusing on consequences resulting from their actions.

In terms of specific resources to use, Shucker mentioned one specific website discussed during Thursday nights virtual seminar. My Life, My Quitwas created by the same group that created the adult Michigan tobacco quit line. Shucker ended by saying they have specially trained coaches who work with teens on helping them quit vaping.

For the full conversation from the WOOD TV Live Desk, checkout the video at the top of this article.

Read more:

Expert: Talk with kids about the dangers of vaping - WOODTV.com

TUESDAY, Feb. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- E-cigarettes have been touted as an aid to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes, but a new study suggests that's a myth.

Researchers found that using e-cigarettes resulted in fewer successful attempts than other smoking cessation aids. And, they added, e-cigarette users weren't less likely to relapse than those who didnt use them.

"I think the image of e-cigarettes as the one thing that's going to help everyone quit has dulled," said study author John Pierce, a professor emeritus from the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California, San Diego. "Just replacing your source of nicotine is not the key here."

He noted that most smokers who tried e-cigarettes to quit didn't use high-nicotine vapes. Whether using doing so would improve the quit rate isn't known and is something researchers will be looking at.

In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave permission for the sale of one popular e-cigarette brand, saying it can help adults quit smoking traditional cigarettes.

Pierce said he's not sure what evidence the FDA is accepting as proof that e-cigarettes help people quit, given the outcome of this study.

Quitting isn't easy, he noted.

"Quitting is the hardest thing a lot of people can do. The success rates of quit attempts haven't changed in 30 years," Pierce said. "We don't have any really good successful ways of doing it -- the motivation's got to get high enough. It's just your motivation level."

For their study, Pierce and his colleagues collected data on more than 3,500 smokers who tried to quit and more than 1,300 who actually did as part of PATH (Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study).

Participants were asked what they used to try to quit, including e-cigarettes, nicotine patches, gums, inhalers, nasal sprays, lozenges or tablets, other tobacco products, or the drugs Chantix (varenicline), Wellbutrin or Zyban (bupropion). E-cigarette users were asked how much nicotine was in their vapes.

The participants were tracked for at least 12 months.

In 2017, more than 12% of those who had recently tried to quit said they used e-cigarettes alone or along with other products. About 2.5% said they used other tobacco products.

About 21% used nicotine replacements or one of the drugs, and 64% just stopped smoking without any substitutes.

Among former smokers, more than 15% switched to e-cigarettes and 16% said they used other tobacco products. The rest hadnt used anything, the researchers found.

Among e-cigarette users, about a quarter used vapes with a nicotine strength of 4% or more. In 2019, the number of former smokers who switched to e-cigarettes rose to 22%, and some were using high-nicotine vapes, Pierce said.

Those who used e-cigarettes to quit before 2017 were less likely to succeed by 2019 than those who used nothing -- 10% versus 19%. E-cigarettes were linked with 7 fewer successful quitters per 100 would-be quitters than other drug aids, the researchers said.

Nor did e-cigarettes lower the odds of relapse, compared with smokers who didnt vape. Close to 60% of former smokers who used e-cigarettes daily had returned to traditional cigarettes by 2019, researchers found.

"The data for e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool has never been very strong," said Dr. David Hill, a medical spokesman for the American Lung Association. "So this study confirms that they're not a great tool for people to stop smoking."

The best way to quit is not to go it alone, but to work with your doctor and a counselor, said Hill, who wasn't part of the study.

"Successfully quitting without that sort of comprehensive care is unlikely to achieve success," Hill said.

But, he added, anyone can stop smoking if they truly want to.

"I've rarely run into somebody who truly has their mind set on stopping who can't be helped to quit," Hill said. "Sometimes it takes multiple attempts and a variety of different approaches."

As for vaping, Hill is not a fan.

"The problem with e-cigarettes is they're still a nicotine combustion product, and our lungs are not designed to inhale heated products," Hill said. The long-term effects of continuous e-cigarette use aren't clear, he added, because they haven't been around long enough to know.

More than 25% of high school students vape, Hill said. So, he said, manufacturers are hooking a new generation as opposed to getting people who are addicted off these products.

The findings were published online Feb. 7 in the journal Tobacco Control.

More information

For more on how to quit smoking, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: John Pierce, PhD, professor emeritus, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego; David Hill, MD, medical spokesman, American Lung Association; Tobacco Control, Feb. 7, 2022, online

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Vaping Not a Great Aid to Quitting Smoking: Study - HealthDay News

SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In recent years, Chinese vaping industry leaders RELX and SMOORE are committed to cross-disciplinary fundamental research on atomization mechanism, so as to explore the long-term health effects of vaping.

Chinas leading vape brand, RELX has initiated Chinas first clinical research on vaping safety. It studies the acute effects of traditional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes on human respiratory system and cardiovascular system. In February 2022, this clinical research has been registered on China Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR), a primary registry in the World Health Organization (WHO) Registry Network.

Early in March 2021, RELX had conducted another clinical research on the metabolism and kinetics of nicotine.

In both clinical researches, RELX has adopted the vaping devices made by FEELM, the flagship atomization tech brand belonging to SMOORE, a global leader in atomization technology. Since 2018, FEELM has been in strategic partnership with RELX, as the atomization solution provider.

Moreover, in September 2021, RELX and SMOORE took the lead in drafting two industry standards "General Technical Specifications for Electronic Atomization Devices" and "Safety Technical Specifications for E-liquid", led by the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of China Electronic Chamber of Commerce (ECCC).

In October 2020, a research program on vaping harm reduction jointly conducted by SMOORE and Tongji University was approved by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Over the next few years, SMOORE and Tongji University will continue to conduct a series of researches on the health effects of vaping.

As the industry's quality benchmark, FEELM is in compliance with its in-house SMOORE 3.0 safety standards. Based on the risk assessment guidance of U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), SMOORE 3.0 covers all of the PMTA tests, including material safety and vapor safety. It also covers all the HPHCs (Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents) listed by the U.S.FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Moreover, FEELM has developed a comprehensive safety assessment system, including PMTA non-clinical testing and PMTA health risk assessment.

Meanwhile, FEELM has launched the worlds thinnest ceramic coil vape pod solution FEELM Air in London on January 18, 2022. Compared with last generation, FEELM Air boasts an overall harm reduction performance improvement of 80%.

Nowadays, global regulators have embraced the public health potential of vaping and been increasingly concerned with scientific evidence. On October 12, 2021, the FDA has granted marketing orders for Vuse Solo, making it the first e-cigarette authorized for sale in the U.S. As the FDA emphasizes, the data submitted demonstrates that marketing of these products is appropriate for the protection of public health.

On December 2, 2021, Chinas State Tobacco Monopoly Administration also issued the draft rules governing e-cigarettes while the regulator has just released the exposure draft of national standards of e-cigarettes on November 30, 2021. According to the exposure draft, the forthcoming national standards set specific quality requirements for vaping products, demanding manufacturers to improve product safety and submit scientific evidence.

As China's national standards of e-cigarettes come into effective, Chinese industry players will continue to increase their R&D investment and examine the harm reduction of vaping via scientific substantiation.

About FEELM

FEELM tech is a high-quality pod system solution belonging to SMOORE, based on the worlds leading ceramic coil heating technology. Combing with flavor reproduction technology and innovative electronics technology and structure design, bringing ultimate sensation and premium vaping experience to global vapers. Focusing on the research of cutting-edge atomization technology, FEELM provides vape brands with total solutions and manufacturing. Now FEELM symbol is on the vape pods of market-leading vaping brands around the world, such as RELX, NJOY, Haka, and VAPO.

About SMOORE

SMOORE is a global leader in offering vaping technology solutions, including manufacturing vaping devices, and vaping components, with advanced R&D technology, strong manufacturing capacity, wide-spectrum product portfolio and diverse customer base. The Company is the worlds largest vaping device manufacturer in terms of revenue, accounting for 18.9% of the total global market share.

Read more here:

SMOORE: Chinese Industry Leaders Are Committed to Exploring Harm Reduction of Vaping - Business Wire

FLAVOURED NICOTINE PRODUCTS should not be restricted in new legislation, members of the IrishVapeVendors Association (IVVA) will argue tomorrow.

The Joint Committee on Health will meet tomorrow, Tuesday 15 February with representatives from the IVVA for pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of thePublic Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill.

The proposed legislation will prohibit the sale ofvapesand tobacco- and nicotine-inhaling products to persons under the age of 18. It will also make it illegal for under-18s to sell such products.

Committee Cathaoirleach Sen Crowe said: The Committee began pre-legislative scrutiny in November 2021 and we will hear from a number of stakeholders on the issue in the coming months.

The Committee previously heard concerns from the Irish Heart Foundation that teen smoking rates are increasing for the first time in ten years due to an explosion ofvapingamong this age cohort.

Research from the Health Research Board has found that teenagers whovapeare up to five times more likely to take up smoking citing the gateway effect. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these and other related matters with representatives,

A spokesperson for the IVVA argues that e-liquid flavours are of vital importance to vapers.

The IVVA will say it is deeply concerned by the negative effects a flavour ban could have on tobacco harm reduction and consumer choice.

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The main argument in favour of banning flavoured e-liquids is the potential risk of making vaping products more attractive to minors with child-friendly flavourings & packaging. The association between vaping flavours and subsequent smoking initiation is not substantiated

Banning flavoured e-liquids would also run counter to vape consumers interest. IVVA members observe daily that the choice of e-liquid flavours is one of the reasons that encourages an adult smoker make the switch to vaping. the IVVA will tell the committee.

More here:

Vaping reps will urge health committee not to ban flavoured nicotine products - TheJournal.ie

Juul launched in 2015, and within two years on the market, its popularity skyrocketed. Cofounders Adam Bowen and James Monsees were hoping to create a satisfying alternative to cigarettes for adult smokers who wanted to quit. Instead, their product got a new generation hooked on nicotine.

By 2018, over 3 million high schoolers were vaping, and Juul's market share increased by 160% within a year. The vaping giant was at an all-time high and seemed untouchable until the FDA declared youth vaping an epidemic.

Juul has since taken steps to reset its policy and advertising efforts, which have been accused of targeting teens for years. Now, only tobacco and menthol-flavored pods remain, but the company still is at risk of being banned by the FDA and faces multimillion-dollar lawsuits over its early marketing tactics. So what does the future of e-cigarettes hold, and will Juul have a place in it?

Continued here:

How vaping giant Juul fueled the youth vaping epidemic - Business Insider