You might have heard something about this whole ‘vaping deaths’ thing.

The American media has been going nuts with stories about people in hospital with lung disease.

They even went so far as to hang around parks interviewing university students to find out how they felt about vaping. 

There is some credence to the concerns.

The Huffington Post reports that 12 people have died, and at least 805 others across 46 states have sustained lung damage, after using e-cigarettes.

News of the 52% rise came hours after the Mississippi State Department of Health announced its first confirmed vape-related death. The individual was only identified as under the age of 30.

Earlier this week, health officials in Florida and Georgia also announced their first deaths from vaping-related illnesses…

Most nationwide cases of vaping-related lung damage have involved individuals with a history of using products containing THC, though there have been cases of people who only used nicotine, according to the CDC.

So what is causing the lung damage? The Daily Maverick has some insight:

The disease is called lipoid pneumonia, a non-contagious form of pneumonia that can occur when either oils or lipid-containing substances enter the lungs, according to Dr Daniel Fox, who participated in the CDC’s conference call with the media

As I’ve pointed out before – if you’re putting something into your lungs that isn’t oxygen, it’s probably bad for you. If you’re buying that thing on the black market, then you’re really playing with fire.

On the black market, drugs are routinely cut with other substances – some benign and some toxic – to make dealers more money. In legal markets, however, this practice is rare. Leading makers of nicotine e-cigarettes, including Juul Labs, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands, told Reuters their products contain neither vitamin E compounds nor THC.

So far, then, it looks like we’re dealing with people who vape improperly prepared THC oils, mostly bought off the street. There appear to be no new health problems associated with products available on the ordinary, commercial, non-cannabis vaping market.

Back to The Huffington Post for more on recent findings.

“All patients were hospitalized and developed pneumonia with no known infectious cause,” the Georgia Department of Public Health said. All of the individuals are between the ages of 18 and 68 and nearly all are male.

Florida has reported 27 known cases of lung damage associated with e-cigarette use this year.

On Monday, Kansas reported its second known death from a vaping-related illness. The first death was of a female resident over the age of 50 with underlying health conditions. The second death was of a male over the age of 50 who also had underlying health conditions.

On Sept. 19, Missouri announced its first vaping-related death, identifying the individual as a man in his mid-40s. The man had normal lung function before he started vaping in May. Over the next three months, he developed mild respiratory symptoms that worsened, leading to his hospitalization in late August.

In general, if you’re concerned about your health, get a couple of nicotine patches and quit vaping.

Simple.

[source:huffpost&dailymaverick]