How vaping affects your health

What is vaping?
An electronic cigarette or e-cigarette is a handheld battery-powered vaporizer that simulates smoking by providing some of the behavioral aspects of smoking, including the hand-to-mouth action of smoking, but without burning tobacco. Using an e-cigarette is known as ‘vaping’. 

There has been an exponential rise of vaping among teenagers. ‘According to a recent study, about 37% of high school seniors reported vaping in 2018, up from 28% the year before. An estimated 2.1 million middle school and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2017; that number jumped to 3.6 million in 2018.’ First, many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes have a lower per-use cost than traditional cigarettes. Finally, vape cartridges are often formulated with flavorings such as apple pie and watermelon that appeal to younger users.

Nicotine in e-cigarettes may have several negative health effects. Chronic nicotine exposure may lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, although this risk may be offset by the well-known appetite suppressant effects of nicotine. Inhaled nicotine increases heart rate and blood pressure. Nicotine is highly addictive in its own right, and it may lead to changes in the brain that increase the risk of addiction to other drugs, especially in young people. Nicotine may also impair brain development in adolescents, leading to attention deficit disorder and poor impulse control. 

Propylene glycol and glycerol, the major components of e-liquids, are not thought to be dangerous on their own. However, they may decompose when heated by the vaporizer, and be transformed into toxic compounds such as formaldehyde. This is more common with newer vaporizers that use high wattages. In a research published on Aug. 20, 31 nonsmoking participants between the ages of 18 and 35 vaped the equivalent to one conventional cigarette, the MRIs showed that participants experienced a reduction in blood flow in the femoral artery (a large artery in the thigh) after just one vaping session. When blood flow to the brain is decreased, it can impact attention, focus, and the ability to learn, and that can have a variety of impacts as a lack of blood also means a lack of oxygen. There is not too much research when it comes to long term use, however some researchers worry it can lead to permanent vascular diseases like atherosclerosis (a hardening of the blood vessels), which is typically associated with regular cigarette use. 

Thankyou for reading :) meg

References

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PTSD - A Psychodynamic Explanation

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder which you may develop after being involved in, or witnessing, traumatic events. The condition was first recognised in war veterans and has been known by a variety of names, such as 'shell shock'. PTSD can develop immediately after someone experiences a disturbing event, or it can occur weeks, months or even years later. Its estimated to affect about 1 in every 3 people who have a traumatic experience, but it's not clear exactly why some people develop the condition and others do not. There are many theories that could be used to explain this condition. Psychodynamic approaches to PTSD focus on a number of different factors that may influence or cause PTSD symptoms, such as early childhood experiences, current relationships and the things people do to protect themselves from upsetting thoughts and feelings that are the result of experiencing a traumatic event. The psychodynamic approach focuses mainly...
Read more

Disparities in Global Eye Care

Vision is one of our most precious possessions. Multiple polls globally show that most people are more fearful of becoming blind than losing any other sense. (1,2) With sight being such a valuable asset, one would assume that eyecare is at the forefront of medical services across the world. Living in the developed world, we perhaps take for granted the simple and yet crucial services available to us such as regular eye tests, glasses, contact lenses and high-quality ophthalmic care - most of which can be accessed for free or at a subsidised price. However, in many parts of the world this is not the case. 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, with 90% being from developing countries. (3) In China, for example, levels of blindness are increasing each year, however critically, rates of blindness have been reported at up to 4 times higher in the developing world as compared to more economically developed countries (4, 5). This is particularly worrying given that around 80% of...
Read more

Do Contact Lenses Really “Support Your Vision”?

Image
Contact lenses have been frequently used as an alternative to glasses. Compared to the heavy-framed glasses in front of one’s eyes (optic glasses), thin plastic discs on the eye (contact lenses) help correct refractive errors in both myopic and hypermetropic users. The lens’ shape and power can be tailored to the user’s sight. A concave lens can be used to decrease myopia by reducing light refraction and increasing focal length so that the image is formed on the retina (1)  (Figure 1). Alternatively, a convex lens can be used to limit hypermetropia in an opposing mechanism to concave lenses (1) (Figure 1). Figure 1, An illustration of myopia and hyperopia and how adding lens of different shapes in front of the eye can be used to alter the refraction of light and correct each impairment in vision (10) Besides supporting sight, which both types of lenses can do, contact lenses confer some advantages that make them preferable to glasses. Unlike glasses, contact lenses are less li...
Read more