Electronic cigarettes (E-cigs) were initially marketed as a smoking cessation aid for addicted adults with the promise of a safer product, but the flavored cartridges heavily attracted the adolescent population fairly quickly. The concern for how nicotine impacts the developing brain of a young adult can be traced back to the usage of these e-cigs. Nicotine is the primary psychoactive and addictive component of tobacco. It acts on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors found in the brain and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Overtime, nicotine induced changes in the neuronal circuitry, which alters the sensitivity of the receptors to the drugs and higher doses of nicotine are needed to satisfy the rewarding effects that you feel. Modifications were made such as nicotine salts were introduced to enhance the sensory quality of e-cigs. But, this wasn’t much of a modification, because it only made it worse.
Nicotine salts have a stronger inflammatory effect on the lung epithelium than regular nicotine-containing e-liquids. The inflammatory effect usually involves a high regulated cascade of molecular events, which is meant to be short-lived, but when inflammatory signaling is made long-term and becomes chronic, the effects are damaging and are associated with tumorigenesis. If the inflammation remains unresolved or stimulated for long periods of time, it can promote carcinogenesis by provoking DNA damage and oxidative stress and the inhibitions of immune cell activity. E-cigs do just that. The thermal degradation starting in the mouth carry pro-inflammatory effects on all aspects of the respiratory system by increasing airway resistance, depositing ultrafine particles and heavy metals in airway, and decreasing innate immunity and response to infection in the airways. Lung damage is one of the primary pathologies associated with the use of tobacco products, but we already knew this, right? Well, it has been shown that cellular damage from e-cigs was more extensive than the damage imposed by traditional cigarettes. The health risks associated with vaping affect multiple organs: oral cavity, vascular system, respiratory system, and brain to name a few. So, next time you’re thinking about hitting your friend’s vape, think about the dangers in the puff (dab pens count too).
Auschwitz, E., Almeda, J., & Andl, C. D. (2023). Mechanisms of E-Cigarette Vape-Induced Epithelial Cell Damage. Cells, 12(21), 2552. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.3390/cells12212552
Jonas A. Impact of vaping on respiratory health BMJ 2022; 378 :e065997 doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-065997
I know one day we as a society will look back in horror that we allowed Big Nicotine to destroy an entire generation of youth with e-cigs/vapes. I remember during the COVID-19 pandemic I heard about many teenagers and young adults being hospitalized because their vape had made them more susceptible to catching respiratory illnesses. In fact, a study found that 13-24 year olds were five times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than people who reported to have never smoked (Gaiha et al., 2020). Now knowing that it can affect development and is worse than cigarettes to a degree, I am hoping our government can tighten regulations on Big Nicotine, or even better completely eliminate them entirely. We as a society should have progressed past profiting from harming others, but that is the human condition I suppose.
ReplyDeleteGaiha, S. M., Cheng, J., & Halpern-Felsher, B. (2020). Association Between Youth Smoking, Electronic Cigarette Use, and COVID-19. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 67(4), 519–523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.002
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ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post, it brings a lot of awareness to what vaping actually is. At first I thought that vaping was just inhaling water vapor. In reality, vaping actually burns nicotine salts that cause a cascade of other inflammatory responses. Vaping is more like breathing in aerosols. In regards to neurological development for adolescents, there is also the fact that breathing in the chemical from vapes also hinders lung healthy lung development and maturation (Orzabal et al., 2022). This paper I found highlighted how vaping affected the respiratory mechanics, respiratory workload, compliance, and resistance in murine models.
DeleteOrzabal, M. R., Naik, V. D., Lee, J., Hillhouse, A. E., Brashear, W. A., Threadgill, D. W., & Ramadoss, J. (2022). Impact of E-cig aerosol vaping on fetal and neonatal respiratory development and function. Translational Research, 246, 102–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trsl.2022.03.009
Its disheartening to see the main population being affected is our youth and young adults. This article talks about how initially on certain tobacco products were unregulated do you think that this later change helped with the widespread use of vapes within the younger populations? "The agency, however, initially exercised authority only over specific tobacco products: cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own (loose tobacco), and smokeless tobacco. This decision left other forms of tobacco unregulated" The five gap between regulations seems significant to me.
ReplyDeleteGostin, Lawrence O., and Aliza Y. Glasner. “E-cigarettes, vaping, and Youth.” JAMA, vol. 312, no. 6, 13 Aug. 2014, p. 595, https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.7883.