#e cigarettes
RIP 2 My Youth
Shooting with a good friend of mine for the old fashoined lady project by Marthe Viehmann
I want to show an unexpected style of a woman in the 1910s
While some studies show that smoking e-cigarettes, more popularly known as vaping, may be a healthier option to
E-cigarettes Alter Inflammatory State of Brain, Heart, Lungs and Colon
Daily use of pod-based e-cigarettes alters the inflammatory state of multiple organ systems including the brain, heart, lungs and colon, according to a new study done in mice from researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, published April 12, 2022 in the journal eLife. Effects also vary depending on the e-cigarette flavor and can influence how organs respond to infections, such as SARS-CoV-2.
Authors saw the most striking effects in the brain, where several inflammatory markers were elevated. Additional changes in neuroinflammatory gene expression were noted in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region critical for motivation and reward-processing. The findings raise major concerns, they said, as neuroinflammation in this region has been linked to anxiety, depression and addictive behaviors, which could further exacerbate substance use and addiction.
“Many JUUL users are adolescents or young adults whose brains are still developing, so it’s pretty terrifying to learn what may be happening in their brains considering how this could affect their mental health and behavior down the line,” said senior study author Laura Crotty Alexander, MD, associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The researchers also found that the inflammatory response of each organ varied depending on which JUUL flavor was used. For example, the hearts of mice that inhaled mint aerosols were much more sensitive to the effects of bacterial pneumonia compared to those that inhaled mango aerosols.
“This was a real surprise to us,” said Crotty Alexander. “This shows us that the flavor chemicals themselves are also causing pathological changes. If someone who frequently uses menthol-flavored JUUL e-cigarettes was infected with COVID-19, it’s possible their body would respond differently to the infection.”
While mint and mango JUUL flavors have been discontinued since this study began, many of their chemical ingredients can still be found in current JUUL products, such as their menthol flavor, or other brands of flavored e-cigarettes.
— Nicole Mlynaryk
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Harms of Vaping Hang in the Air
With the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes or vaping, there has been a concurrent rise in “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associate lung injury,” dubbed EVALI. In 2019, according to published data, more than half of patients diagnosed with EVALI in the United States required hospitalization.
In a paper published March 30, 2022 in the journal CHEST, a multi-institution team of researchers, including Laura E. Crotty Alexander, MD, associate professor of medicine in the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a pulmonary specialist, outline best health care practices for treating EVALI patients.
“Not long ago, there was tremendous interest in vaping-related lung injuries. But I think, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people believe this problem has gone away,” said first author Don Hays, MD, a pulmonologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“The truth is that it hasn’t. These injuries are still being seen, though we’re not positive on the frequency because the CDC has ceased collecting data since the pandemic began. The goal of this study is twofold: to provide information and guidance on treating EVALI patients, and also to put forth a reminder that this is still a problem.”
EVALI is characterized by respiratory symptoms, such as cough, shortness of breath and chest pain, combined with gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The new study reviewed CDC data regarding 2,708 confirmed or probable EVALI patients requiring hospital admission between August 2019 and January 2020. The study reported that 93 percent of the patients survived to discharge, but 88.5 percent required respiratory support.
Given that EVALI symptoms can be similar to common respiratory infections, such as influenza and COVID-19, the authors said it is important to determine whether a patient has a history of e-cigarette use, particularly within the last three months.
Alexander said the EVALI epidemic in 2019 was primarily due to the addition on Vitamin E acetate to e-cigarettes already containing THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, but also noted that e-cigarettes containing nicotine were linked to EVALI before and after 2019.
“We need to continue to warn both THC and nicotine e-cigarette vapers about the potential for acute lung injury,” said Alexander, who noted that UC San Diego Health averages two EVALI hospitalizations monthly.
“In health care, it is critical to be aware of, and understand, what’s going on in the public domain, in order to be suspicious of what might be happening with an individual patient. This is why public health is so important,” said Hayes. “The fact is, the average doctor may only see one or two EVALI cases, so by utilizing this panel of experts, who see EVALI cases more frequently, we’re able to provide guidance to questions like, ‘What should we be doing, how do we manage this, and should we be doing certain types of diagnostic tests?’”
Alexander agreed: “As clinicians become more aware of the health effects of e-cigarettes, we are hopeful that more accurate inhalation histories will be taken and documented, allowing us to accurately quantify e-cigarette driven diseases and outcomes.”
— Scott LaFee
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