Vomiting, fever and fatigue… the mysterious vaping lung disease that’s becoming an ‘epidemic’
IN recent years they've been promoted as the best alternative to traditional tobacco smoking.
But now health experts are warning that e-cigarettes might not be as safe as they first seemed.
It comes after a spike of mysterious and life-threatening lung diseases - believed to be linked to vaping - over the summer.
The US alone has now reported more than 215 people, mostly otherwise healthy and in their teens or 20s, have shown up at hospitals with breathing difficulties.
Often they've also suffered with vomiting, fever and fatigue for several days prior.
Some have even ended up in intensive care on a ventilator for several weeks.
Health warning
It's prompted health bosses to issue a warning while they investigate the issue.
The US's health protection agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that people should "consider restraining from using e-cigarette products".
So far, officials have identified 215 possible cases of lung disease related to vaping in 25 states, but the cause is still unknown, they said in a statement.
Dr Melodi Pirzada, chief paediatric pulmonologist in Mineola, New York, told the outbreak is "becoming an epidemic... something is very wrong.”
Health investigators are trying to establish whether a particular toxin or substance is being sneaked into products or whether it stems from heavy usages or vaping marijuana.
Many patients have either denied or say they have no knowledge about the substances they might have used - making treatment complicated.
Dangerous oil droplets
People are being urged not to buy bootleg products and to stop modifying devices to vape a mixture of substances.
Vaping works by heating chemical-filled liquid and turning it into steam to be inhaled.
The chemicals are mixed with solvents, or oils, which heat up during aerosolization to become vapour.
But some oil droplets can be left over as the liquid cools back down and inhaling those can cause breathing problems and lung inflammation.
Thomas Eissenberg, who studies vaping at Virginia Commonwealth University, told the NY Times: “Inhaling oil into your lungs is extremely dangerous behaviour that could result in death."
Another issue is that many vaping ingredients are not listed on the products.
In some of the cases reported in New York they have found Vitamin E oil to be one of the most common substances associated with sudden and severe respiratory problems, state officials said.
It comes after mandied of lung disease last week in what is believed to be the world's first vaping-related death.
Authorities haven't identified the man but he is known to have lived in the state of Illinois and was between the ages of 17 and 38 at the time of his death.
Inhaling oil into your lungs is extremely dangerous behaviour that could result in death
Thomas Eissenberg
CDC Director Robert Redfield said: ";This tragic death in Illinois reinforces the serious risk associated with e-cigarette products.
"Vaping exposes users to many different substances for which we have little information about related harms — including flavourings, nictoine, cannabinoids and solvents."
In another case, a teenager from Texas nearly died last month after his lungs collapsed.
Separately, an 18-year-old from Florida shared shocking images of his lungs after he claimed vaping for a year caused them to collapse.
Health officials, including Public Health England, recommend vaping to smokers trying to quit.
MORE ON E-CIGARETTES
Prof Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, became the latest expert to raise "serious concerns" about the devices.
He urged PHE to stop promoting e-cigs as a means to helping smokers quit.
"The nicotine in e-cigarettes is not a harmless drug and then there are all these other things such as flavourings that are inhaled," he warned.
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