A Canadian teen suffered life-threatening and chronic lung injuries connected to regular vaping, a new pattern of illness doctors hadn’t connected to electronic cigarettes until now, according to a paper released Thursday.
The six doctors from London, Ont., and Toronto who helped treat the youth and authored the paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal are calling for changes to the way e-cigarettes are regulated and urging people to educate themselves about the risks.
“We wanted to put this case out there as a warning to people,” Dr. Karen Bosma, the paper’s lead author, said in an interview. “Because these chemicals that are in e-cigarettes have not been extensively tested, we don’t know a lot about how they might harm the lungs.”
A previously healthy 17-year-old male, who was not identified in the paper, came to doctors with a severe cough, shortness of breath and a fever. The teen said he did not drink and did not smoke cigarettes, but he had been vaping daily for the past five months, trying different flavours like green apple and cotton candy and often adding tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component in cannabis that gets you high, to the vaping liquid, the doctors wrote.
Eventually, the patient’s breathing issues got so bad he had to be intubated and put on life support. Doctors said he had a form of bronchiolitis, a condition in which the small airways in the lungs become inflamed and blocked. It looked similar to “popcorn lung,” the type of condition observed in American microwave popcorn factory workers exposed to the chemical diacetyl. Manufacturers say they no longer make popcorn with diacetyl, which added a buttery flavour.
But the chemical, the researchers say, is still found in most e-cigarette liquids.
Sahar Fatima – Toronto Star – November 21, 2019.
Want More Investigative Content?
