As a followup to our post of a few weeks back, on the FDA’s ill-advised decision to approve fruit and menthol flavored vaping devices for sale, here’s something of interest on a growing consequence of vaping. The link is to a warning from the American Lung Association:
E-cigarette or Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)
First identified in 2019, EVALI is described as “an acute or subacute respiratory illness” that can be fatal. In fact, “…More than 50% of patients with EVALI require admission to an intensive care unit.” That’s not good.
Underage users are particularly vulnerable. One case describes a 17 year-old boy who developed EVALI after inhaling vapors from his own mix of THC liquid and vitamin E acetate. Oddly enough, vitamin E acetate, safe when taken orally, is a serious irritant to the lungs when inhaled.
So the risk is not only from vaping itself, but often, from ingredients in the vaping liquid.
The figures I found suggested somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 EVALI cases to date, 50 of which resulted in fatalities. It’s suspected that EVALI may often be missed on examination because its symptoms so closely mimic other, more familiar lung disorders.
Treatment responds well with corticosteroids, provided EVALI is recognized early and vaping ceases immediately. That could be a problem because of the lag in recognition. After all, kids often hide their vaping habits from adults, for the same reasons they hide cigarette and marijuana use.
And vaping, like tobacco smoking, is considered addictive, with withdrawal symptoms that discourage abrupt cessation.
Some stats on teen vaping from CDC
- 87% of youth vapers use flavored e-cigarettes (fruit & candy flavors the most popular).
- Disposable vapes are the most widely used (55% of youth).
- Teens most frequently acquire vapes from friends or family, or buy them from stores and shops where clerks ignore age restrictions.
