The Illusion of Battery Power Nicotine - Nour Mahmoud

The Illusion of Battery Powered Nicotine

Nour Mahmoud

Its chemicals invaded everything they were, from a sickly yellow film over their skin to the air in their lungs. Its recent discovery provides an enigma surrounding its dangers and long term effects acting as a safety blanket for those reckless and naive enough to place their body, mind and health second. Vaping and E-cigarettes. What are they? What are their effects? Are they less harmful than traditional cigarettes? Who is the target audience for the cause of the rapid outbreak of vaping and e-cigarettes? You might be wondering why I chose to explore this topic rather than so many other seemingly more interesting medical topics and the answer is simple. I cannot deny that I have a strong passion for medicine, not only because it is immensely satisfying to know that the concept of working a medical problem would ultimately lead to the better health of individuals but also because of the constant and rapid change in medical research and discoveries. Insights provided by medical research everyday continue to unravel the molecular workings that underpin disease leading to significant headway in constantly advancing medical knowledge. However, my love for medicine aside, I chose to bring vaping and ecigarettes to your attention due to its rapid rise among teenagers and young adults. Therefore as a teen who knows many that resort to the usage of vaping as a coping mechanism or as a way to fit in or be socially compatible/accepted into a group, this topic resonated deeply with me and I felt compelled to inform and educate and increase awareness. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. As our nation strays away from traditional smoking as we come to terms with its negative impact and its link to increased health effects from heart disease to problems with the immune system [CDC,2017], we’ ve come to find new and modern ways to ease the transition from traditional cigarettes to not smoking at all such as the invention of vapes and e-cigarettes. The e-cigarette as we know it today didn’t show up until a chinese smoker and pharmacist named Hon Lik invented it in 2003. [Brueck, 2019]. Around 2006, ecigarettes were introduced to Europe and it wasn’t long before they spread nation-wide. However, medically the World Health Organization stated in 2008 that “no rigorous, peer-reviewed studies have been conducted showing that the electronic cigarette is safe and effective in nicotine replacement therapy ” . Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped people from experimenting and trying this mix of propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerin (called PGVG), which vaporizes and delivers drugs, along with any chosen flavors which is evident in that at least a quarter of teens in the US today say they ’ ve tried vaping, while 6% of high schoolers vape regularly [Brueck, 2019]. Moreover, due to the largely unregulated ecigarettes industry, it’s difficult to know what exactly is in a single vape with many experts suggesting that there could be the presence of dangerous chemicals lurking in some vapes. Due to the experimental aspect of vaping, medical research is still scant however some initial studies suggest that there may be serious and life-threatening consequences to vaping. [Vaping Rises Among Teens, 2019].

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CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are investigating a national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).[CDC,2019]. Although there are many unknowns about vaping including how they affect mental and physical health in the long term, emerging data suggests link to chronic lung disease, asthma and cardiovascular disease [Blaha, 2015]. As of February 18th 2020, a total of 2,807 seemingly healthy patients other than their use of ecigarettes have been hospitalized and 68 dead with 15% of patients under the age of 18. [CDC, 2019]. Published case reports have detailed a range of specifically severe pulmonary illnesses among those who have reported use of nicotine or cannabis extracts in e-cigarettes.[Layden et al.,2019]. Those who have been diagnosed with vape-related lung injury experience symptoms including rapid onset of coughing (85%),breathing difficulties,weight loss, nausea (66%) and vomiting (61%) and diarrhea(44%) attributed to a buildup of oil and/or white blood cells in the lungs. [Northwestern Medicine Staff, 2019] [Layden et al.,2019] Moreover, vape-related lung injury caused common intensive care unit admission for respiratory failure and 26% of all patients underwent intubation and mechanical ventilation.A lthough the definitive cause or causes of lung injury remain unknown, the severity of the illness and the recent and rapid increase in the incidence of this clinical syndrome indicate that these cases represent a new or newly recognized and worrisome cluster of lung injury related to vaping. [Layden et al.,2019].

Furthermore, the health dangers of the use of vapes and e-cigarettes goes beyond pulmonary or lung-related illnesses or diseases it has also been linked to cardiovascular disease. Research has demonstrated that e-cigarettes raise blood pressure and heart rate, change the artery walls so that they become stiffer and less elastic, and inhibit the function of blood vessels by damaging their lining. Each of these four effects are risk factors for blood clots and fat build-up inside artery walls which can cause severe heart attacks.[www.escardio.org, 2020] In fact, a 2017 survey found that the odds of a heart attack increase by 42 percent and odds of suffering from a stroke by 30 percent among ecigarette users compared to non-smokers. [www.pennmedicine.org, 2020]. Additionally, coronary artery disease and circulatory problems, including blood clots, were also much higher among those who vape—10 percent and 44 percent higher, respectively. Furthermore, the health dangers of the use of vapes and e-cigarettes goes beyond pulmonary or lung-related illnesses or diseases it has also been linked to cardiovascular disease.

Not only does vaping and e-cigarettes have detrimental effects on physical health, it also has negative side effects on a user’s mental health. Vaping with or without nicotine has been shown to impact impulse control, especially in young adults whose brains have not fully developed yet. Some of these risks include mood disorders and permanent damage to parts of the brain responsible for memory, emotion and critical thinking. [Change to Chill, 2019]. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance that can have a grave impact on the underdeveloped brain of a middle school or high school student. The areas of the brain that deal with cognitive and emotional processing, mainly the prefrontal cortex, are at greatest risk of long-term damage from nicotine exposure “The prefrontal cortex is largely responsible for things like thinking through a decision, sustaining attention, evaluating consequences, and having the ability to control impulses, ”says Hart Wylie, psychiatric nurse-practitioner

“If this area of the brain is damaged, you may see several problematic behaviors, including difficulty sustaining attention and focus, making poor decisions, acting erratically, and personality changes. ” [Canopy Children’s Solutions, 2020] Furthermore, the addictive nature of vapes and e-cigarettes cause physical and emotional consequences, due to the fact that nicotine is considered a gateway drug, when a teenager or young adult becomes addicted to a substance, that very substance remaps how their brain works. This, in turn, creates a vicious cycle of dependence which, depending on a child’s tolerance level, can start as early as the first couple of vaping pods used. Changes to the developing brain alters an individual’s threshold for addiction, making it much more likely that a teenager may experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, or harder drugs in the future.

Once again, a reiteration of how currently relevant and important this is to discuss is the use of vapes and e-cigarettes and its link to COVID. Teenagers and young adults who vape face a much higher risk of COVID-19 than their peers who do not vape, a new study has found. Vaping is linked to a substantially increased risk of COVID-19 among teenagers and young adults, according to a new study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. [digitale@stanford.edu, n.d, 2020] Certainly we know that vaping itself can lead to inflammation and profound lung disease, as well as to a malfunction of the immune system in the lungs. Therefore we would expect that those who vape may be much more susceptible to pulmonary complications following a COVID-19 infection. [Outbreak, 2020] Not only does COVID impact a person who vapes and uses ecigarettes more severely but it also increases the spread of COVID. If a person who smokes or vapes has COVID19, but does not show symptoms, they are more likely to spread the COVID-19 virus through coughing. Moreover, smoking and vaping involve hand-to-mouth contact. This makes it easier for the virus to spread from their mouth to their hands and onto other surfaces. [Massachusetts General Hospital, 2020].

In conclusion, we as a community need to curb the spread of this “ vaping” epidemic and as a whole be ready and have the power to start this conversation. First and foremost is education for both teenagers and their parents. Teenagers obtain most of their knowledge on e-cigarettes from social media and their peers. One in three adolescents in the U.S. still consider electronic cigarettes to be less harmful than traditional combustible cigarettes. It is imperative and so important to combat this that teens are given accurate information on e-cigarettes. [Jones and Salzman, 2020] We cannot allow the illusion of battery powered nicotine to cloud our judgment or provide us with a deceptive appearance or impression.