A teenager suffered catastrophic lung damage after vaping every day for three years. Maddie Nelson, 18, started to feel ill earlier this year but last month experienced severe back and kidney pain. The student, from Utah, USA, was rushed to hospital struggling to breathe but the oxygen that medics gave her did not work. Her sister Andrea said ‘the situation went from serious to potentially fatal’ and an X-ray showed ‘severe damage to her lungs.’ The decision was made to put her into a medically-induced coma while she battled for life.
Andrea added: ‘On August 1, she officially received her diagnosis after two bronchoscopies. Test results showed she has been enduring acute eosinophilic pneumonia. ‘Her doctor suspects it’s from electronic vaping sources, this includes all supposedly “safe” alternatives to smoking such as e-cigarettes.’ Acute eosinophilic pneumonia is a rare disease caused by a build-up of white blood cells in the lungs in response to inflammation.
Maddie was given steroids and was brought out of the coma after three days. She is now breathing on her own but still needs oxygen at night for the tightness in her chest. Maddie shared photos of herself in the hospital as she urged people to quit vaping: ‘I am sharing my story so you all are aware that there is something crazy in these pens that is not safe and almost cost me my life. ‘I used to just tell myself it won’t happen to me, but it can and will happen to you too…take my advice, don’t smoke, don’t vape. #vape #stopthevape.’
Last week it emerged that the first person had died from vaping, which is being promoted as a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes. The medical community has urged caution, saying electronic cigarettes have only been around for a decade and it is too early to promote them as ‘safe.’
Maddie’s sister Andrea said that young people are ‘the guinea pigs of the popularising of “vape life” and after only a few years, we are seeing some pretty scary side effects.’ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that in the US nearly 200 people have contracted severe respiratory illnesses after vaping. All of those affected have been teenagers or adults who had used an electronic cigarette or some other kind of vaping device. Doctors said their illnesses resembled an inhalation injury with the lungs reacting to a caustic substance.
CDC director Robert Redfield said: ‘Vaping exposes users to many different substances for which we have little information about related harms – including flavourings, nicotine, cannabinoids and solvents.’ In the UK, Public Health England maintain e-cigarettes are a highly effective tool to help people quit smoking.
However, there are concerns about the amount of young people taking up vaping because the products still contain highly-addictive nicotine. Some vaping products have also been found to contain other potentially harmful substances and a number of the flavours, such as cinnamon, vanilla and cherry, produce a toxic reaction. The UK is currently bound by EU regulations on the amount of nicotine in an e-cigarette and the levels in the US are much higher.
Dr Aaron Scott, from the University of Birmingham, said this could account for the higher number of health problems so far in the US. He recently published a paper showing that vaporised e-liquid fluid has a similar effect on the lungs and body as seen in regular smokers. According to this research, vaping is cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory.
He told Metro.co.uk that there needed to be more-long term studies and better regulation before it could be promoted as a better alternative to traditional cigarettes. Dr Scott said: ‘We only have evidence for short-term and in the short-term it’s definitely harmful. I think we should be more cautious. ‘The potential for lung disease down the line is still there and we need to recognise that rather than bury our heads in the sand by only focusing on the benefits and the way it helps people give up smoking.’
Source: metro.co.uk
