{"id":18728,"date":"2019-11-28T21:05:11","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T21:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=18728"},"modified":"2019-11-29T14:29:27","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T14:29:27","slug":"are-vaping-and-e-cigarettes-the-same-and-should-all-these-products-be-avoided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/are-vaping-and-e-cigarettes-the-same-and-should-all-these-products-be-avoided\/","title":{"rendered":"Are ‘vaping’ and ‘e-cigarettes’ the same, and should all these products be avoided?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allison Kurti<\/a>, University of Vermont<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As concerns over vaping continue to grow, researchers and public health officials are investigating the causes of more than 40 deaths and 2,000 illnesses. It\u2019s confusing even for experts.<\/p>\n

The term \u201ce-cigarette\u201d refers to a battery-powered device used to inhale an aerosol that typically, but not always, contains nicotine, along with flavorings and other chemicals, but not tobacco. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)<\/a> and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> recognize e-cigarettes as a broad category that includes a variety of different products that operate similarly and contain similar components.<\/p>\n

So, \u201ce-cigarettes,\u201d \u201cvapes,\u201d \u201cvape pens,\u201d \u201cJuul,\u201d etc., all refer to the same class of products, with \u201ce-cigarette\u201d being the product itself, and \u201cvaping\u201d referring to use of the product. The devices can have different uses.<\/p>\n

Although e-cigarettes in the U.S. are regulated as tobacco products rather than smoking cessation tools, Juul \u2013 the biggest maker of these devices \u2013 has marketed its product as a way for smokers to quit tobacco, with its website saying that its products are a \u201csatisfying alternative to cigarettes.<\/a>\u201d There are other vaping products, however, that are designed more to inhale THC.<\/p>\n

What is the cause of vaping-related lung injuries?<\/h2>\n
\n \"\"
\n Jeffrey Manzanares inhales medicine in Sandy, Utah, on Oct. 24, 2019, for a vaping illness that hospitalized him for 17 days.<\/span>
\n Rick Bowmer\/AP Photo<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lung illnesses and deaths associated with using these products are sometimes referred to as \u201ce-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury\u201d or EVALI<\/a>. We know that 84% of those who have died reported vaping THC<\/a>, either exclusively or in combination with nicotine. Many obtained their product that contained THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, through informal sources<\/a> such as friends or in-person or online dealers.<\/p>\n

CDC laboratory testing of fluid samples from EVALI patients has found vitamin E acetate,<\/a> a synthetic form of vitamin E, at the primary site of injury within the lungs. More research is needed<\/a>, however, to rule out other chemicals that might also be associated with EVALI.<\/p>\n

Although more testing is needed, vitamin E acetate appears to be much more common in products that contain THC. Those in the legal marijuana industry say vitamin E acetate is used on the marijuana black market<\/a> to stretch the THC oil in e-cigarettes because it has a similar appearance and is much cheaper.<\/p>\n

One recent report<\/a> found that among EVALI patients in Utah, 17 out of 19 (89%) of THC-containing products had vitamin E acetate, whereas 0 out of 20 (0%) of nicotine-containing products had it. <\/p>\n

The CDC recommends that people not use vaping products that contain THC. The American Medical Association has called for a ban on all vaping and e-cigarette products<\/a> that are not deemed tobacco cessation products. No vaping or e-cigarette products currently on the market are considered tobacco cessation products.<\/p>\n

[ You\u2019re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation\u2019s authors and editors.<\/em> You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter<\/a>. ]\"The<\/p>\n

Allison Kurti<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Vermont<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allison Kurti, University of Vermont As concerns over vaping continue to grow, researchers and public health officials are investigating the causes of more than 40 deaths and 2,000 illnesses. It\u2019s confusing even for experts. The term \u201ce-cigarette\u201d refers to a battery-powered device used to inhale an aerosol that typically, but not always, contains nicotine, along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":18729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42],"tags":[7302,4717,7303],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18730,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18728\/revisions\/18730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}