Vaping curbs teen tobacco use, but has large downside – The Sylva Herald

Jackson County residents who want to learn more about teens and vaping have an opportunity to attend a virtual meeting on the topic.

The approximately 45-minute webinar The Youth Vaping Epidemic - Critical Information for North Carolina is on the web at noon Thursday, Feb. 24.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, Dr. Sasidharan Taravath, a Novant Health pediatric neurologist, and youth anti-vaping advocate Luka Kinard will discuss health issues related to teens and vaping.

As of 2011, smoking among high schoolers had decreased but vaping was on the rise, and in 2019, 27.5 percent of teens in that group reported using an e-cigarette in the last 30 days, said Jim Martin, policy director of the N.C. Tobacco Prevention and Control Division of Public Health in a January 2020 report.

Vaping is an electronic way of ingesting nicotine, but it is not without danger and not enough is known about its health impacts, said Dr. Jarred Tanksley, a radiation oncologist at Harris Regional Hospital.

Vaping is the process of using an electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, to simulate smoking, both chemically and physically ... by heating a liquid solution containing nicotine to create an inhalable vapor, Tanksley said. It is similar to smoking because it entails the inhalation of nicotine in the physical activity of placing and removing a cigarette from ones lips, which is itself addictive.

Vaping is different from smoking because the person vaping is not exposed to the carcinogens in cigarettes and other tobacco products. But that does not necessarily mean it is safe.

This is not to say that the liquid solution used in e-cigarettes is simply nicotine in water, Tanksley said. It also contains a number of substances that are potentially dangerous, though there is less known about this given the lack of long-term followup.

Additionally, many teens are unaware that they are taking in nicotine when vaping.

In 2018 a study conducted by the National Institute of Health discovered 11.5 percent of students in grades 8-12 thought they were only vaping flavors without nicotine, and A Truth Initiative Study that same year showed 63 percent of Juul users between 15 and 24 years old did not understand Juuls products always contained nicotine, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

By January 2020, the nation had seen approximately 2,500 people hospitalized with medical issues related to EVALI, or e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury, and 60 deaths, Tanksley said.

Lung injuries related to vaping were typically due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, a condition causing fluid buildup in the Aveoli, or air sacs, of the lungs and interfering with the ability to fill the lungs with air and limiting oxygen supply to the rest of the body.

Doctors still do not know the exact causes for this, Tanksley said.

According to the Mayo Clinic, ARDS is usually seen in critically ill patients and those who have significant injuries. The risk of death from ARDS is high, and some survivors will have long-term lung damage.

In North Carolina there were 76 EVALI cases, 58 confirmed and 18 probable, related to vaping as of January 2019. Those cases included patients from age 13 to 72 many of whom were male or young adults and required hospitalization and respiratory support, Martin said.

Vaping might be better than smoking, at least until science understands more, especially when used to wean oneself from cigarettes and other tobacco products, but users should understand that does not mean vaping is safe.

Of course, there is no long-term data, but the general belief is that there are fewer carcinogens within the vaporized liquid, Tanksley said. In addition to lung cancer, tobacco smoking is also related to bladder, pancreatic, head and neck, esophageal, stomach, and kidney cancers, and several non-malignant conditions like heart disease and COPD. Ultimately, though, if one were starting out and choosing between the two, the best option would be neither.

Tanksley could not provide any data on whether vaping has different impacts on the health of young people versus older people.

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Vaping curbs teen tobacco use, but has large downside - The Sylva Herald