Vaping

An unknown illness originating from vaping has killed at least 18 people within ten states, including California, Kansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri and Oregon. Typically when the illness begins people will experience symptoms such as: coughing, chest pain or shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever and weight loss. Eventually their health plummets to the point of hospitalization. Majority of people end up with respiratory distress syndrome. This respiratory disease is a life-threatening condition where a fluid builds up within the lungs, preventing the oxygen people need to function from circulating in the bloodstream. The FDA has received 300 different samples from vaping patients, and tested only about 150 of the samples. According to the FDA about 70 percent of the products contain THC, the main active ingredient of cannabis. Half of them contain vitamin E oil, which is a common supplement found in many health and beauty products. Vitamin E oil can be safely eaten or applied to the skin in oil form, however, when vaped, Vitamin E acetate can pose known health risks, as by coating the lungs and leading to lipoid pneumonia.

Citation:

“Lung Injuries.”Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html.

Knowles, Hannah, and Lena H. Sun. “ Mysterious Vaping-Linked Illness and Deaths.” The Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/09/07/what-we-know-about-mysterious-vaping-linked-illnesses-deaths/.

by: Sabrina Hardin