Instead of cigarettes, many young people today smoke vapes with different flavors. Mason’s story shows that they are no longer healthy.
E-cigarettes were once considered a healthy way to quit smoking and even a relatively safe alternative. But studies suggest the devices may not be better for the lungs than traditional cigarettes designed to help people quit smoking because they also contain toxic chemicals. Adding flavors to e-cigarettes makes them even more tempting, especially to minors who think they are smoking something “healthier.” Vapes are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, with an estimated 8.1 million Americans — including 3 million middle and high school students — now smoking them every week. Most vaporizers are made in China, but they have been migrating to the US for years, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has struggled to regulate the market. The FDA has restricted fruity flavors in reusable vaporizers to make them less appealing to teens, but has not yet implemented the same rules for disposable vaporizers.
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Mason Middleton, now 19, of Fort Myers, Florida, also became addicted to disposable e-cigarettes at age 15. At the height of his use, Middleton was so addicted that he vaped every few minutes and used up to four capsules a week. The age limit for smoking and purchasing vapes in Florida is 21, but many teenagers manage to get around the ban thanks to unscrupulous sellers and friends who buy the devices for them. “I got it because I knew someone who knew someone who knew someone at school, and that’s how I got it,” he told the Chron.
But in early 2023 he was suddenly struck by severe chest pains that tormented him so much that he could barely stand. On his grandfather’s way home, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the left side of his chest. “The throbbing [Schmerz] It came in waves. When I got home I was in tremendous pain, I could barely walk, so I lay down.” He tried to treat the pain with ibuprofen, he also went to work the next day, but after a few hours he had to go to the hospital.
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Vapes are filled with capsules available in different flavors. Getty Images
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Diagnosis: lung collapse
X-rays showed he was suffering from a collapsed lung. This is a hole in the lung through which air enters the empty space between the lung wall and the chest wall. This means that the lungs can no longer inflate and deflate properly, so those affected suffer from shortness of breath, sharp chest pains and rapid heartbeats. The condition is rarely fatal, but must be treated quickly to prevent the hole from getting worse or blood oxygen levels falling, which can damage internal organs. Treatment involves inserting a tube into the chest to suck air out of the vacuum and restore it, while also giving the lung enough time to heal the hole and restore normal breathing without the help of a machine.
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3 days of hospitalization
Because Middleton is a healthy young man, doctors believe there “can be no other reason” for his lung collapse other than vaping. What happened to Middleton is very unlikely unless there is an underlying disease that weakens the lungs, such as asthma or Marfan syndrome, says Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a critical care physician at Johns Hopkins University. “When someone with an underlying medical condition smokes or vapes, it triggers inflammation in the lungs, weakening them further – and increasing the risk of a hole forming in the lung wall, leading to collapse.”
Middleton has no pre-existing conditions that could cause lung collapse. Treatment involved placing a tube in his chest to suck air from the space between his lungs and chest wall. This restored the vacuum so the lung would not collapse and would have time to repair the hole. The 19-year-old was released after three days.
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Cold turkey
He has since given up vaping and thrown away all devices overnight. “I’m quitting vaping. I’ve never listened to people who say vaping ruins you, but it happens. Don’t go through what I went through, it was extremely painful.” When asked how difficult it was to quit smoking, he responded, “In the last week I haven’t had a lot of cravings, but in the last few weeks I’ve really had a lot of cravings. because “I always take a puff right away and I get irritated much faster.” Middleton has been vocal about her struggles with vaping on social media and has launched a campaign called #freethelungs, encouraging others to stop vaping to protect their health.
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Browsing account red hour 09/19/2023, 6:14 pm | Act: September 19, 2023, 6:14 pm