Ac­cord­ing to the web­site Kid­sHealth, va­p­ing is the in­hal­ing of a vapour cre­at­ed by an elec­tron­ic cig­a­rette (e-cig­a­rette) or oth­er sim­i­lar de­vices. E-cig­a­rettes are bat­tery-pow­ered de­vices that heat a liq­uid in­to an aerosol that the user in­hales. The liq­uid usu­al­ly has nico­tine in it, along with flavour­ing and oth­er ad­di­tives.

Be­sides nico­tine, e-cig­a­rettes can al­so con­tain po­ten­tial­ly harm­ful chem­i­cals such as:

Ul­tra­fine par­ti­cles that can be in­haled deep in­to the lungs

Heavy met­als such as nick­el, tin, and lead

Volatile or­gan­ic com­pounds

Flavourants such as di­acetyl, a chem­i­cal linked to se­ri­ous lung dis­ease.

The long-term ef­fects of smok­ing these chem­i­cals are still un­known.

Among young peo­ple, e-cig­a­rettes are more pop­u­lar than any tra­di­tion­al to­bac­co prod­uct. US Fed­er­al da­ta in 2019 showed about three mil­lion high school stu­dents vaped last year in the US alone. There is a re­al fear that e-cig­a­rettes are ad­dict­ing a new gen­er­a­tion af­ter decades of falling cig­a­rette smok­ing rates.

Al­though com­pa­nies are legal­ly not meant to sell e-cig­a­rettes to mi­nors, their ad­ver­tis­ing and pack­ag­ing of­ten are tar­get­ed to­wards a younger au­di­ence, with their sleek de­signs and bright colours. Many teens be­lieve that va­p­ing is less harm­ful than smok­ing. Vape car­tridges of­ten come in flavours such as tut­ti frut­ti and wa­ter­mel­on that ap­peal to younger users.

It’s im­por­tant to re­mem­ber that e-cig­a­rettes of­ten con­tain nico­tine. One pop­u­lar e-cig­a­rette was re­cent­ly men­tioned in a bul­letin from the Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pe­di­atrics, which men­tioned that the con­cen­tra­tion of nico­tine in it is more than dou­ble the con­cen­tra­tion found in oth­er e-cig­a­rettes.

Nico­tine is high­ly ad­dic­tive, es­pe­cial­ly to teens and young peo­ple. Phys­i­o­log­i­cal­ly this age group is more prone to ad­dic­tion be­cause the brain is still ma­tur­ing at this stage, a process that is not com­plet­ed un­til the ear­ly 20’s. The nico­tine in e-cig­a­rettes can slow brain de­vel­op­ment in teens and af­fect mem­o­ry, con­cen­tra­tion, learn­ing, self-con­trol, at­ten­tion, and mood.

Nico­tine’s ad­dic­tive ef­fects cause users to have crav­ings and ex­pe­ri­ence with­draw­al symp­toms if they ig­nore them. Com­mon with­draw­al symp­toms are:

Headaches

Feel­ing tired, cranky, an­gry, or de­pressed

Trou­ble con­cen­trat­ing

In­som­nia

Hunger

Rest­less­ness

The signs of with­draw­al are strongest in the first few days af­ter stop­ping, but get bet­ter over the fol­low­ing days and weeks.

Nico­tine is al­so a tox­ic sub­stance. It rais­es blood pres­sure and caus­es a spike in adren­a­line, which in­creas­es heart rate and can cause heart rhythm dis­tur­bances, high blood pres­sure and in­creased risk of a heart at­tack or stroke.

E-cig­a­rettes al­so can lead to oth­er forms of to­bac­co use. It is said that peo­ple who vape are four times more like­ly to al­so take up tra­di­tion­al cig­a­rettes.

In ad­di­tion, some peo­ple use e-cig­a­rettes to vape mar­i­jua­na, THC oil, and oth­er dan­ger­ous chem­i­cals. Be­sides ir­ri­tat­ing the lungs, these drugs al­so af­fect how some­one thinks, acts, and feels.

If you are con­cerned and want to stop va­p­ing, here are some use­ful tips from Kid­sHealth:

Write down your rea­sons for want­i­ng to quit to re­mind you when you feel the urge to vape.

Pick a day to stop va­p­ing. Tell sup­port­ive friends and fam­i­ly that you’re quit­ting on that day.

Get rid of all va­p­ing sup­plies.

Un­der­stand with­draw­al. Re­mem­ber those with­draw­al symp­toms get bet­ter over the fol­low­ing days and weeks af­ter stop­ping.

Pre­pare for feel­ings, peo­ple, and places that make you want to vape, and avoid them as much as pos­si­ble. If you feel the urge to vape, try these things in­stead:

Chew sug­ar-free gum or drink wa­ter.

Reach out to a friend who will sup­port you.

Lis­ten to your favourite playlist.

Go for a walk or jog.

Try deep breath­ing or re­lax­ation.

Keep busy with a hob­by.

Go some­where where smok­ing/va­p­ing isn’t al­lowed.

Talk to your doc­tor about lo­cal pro­grammes or re­sources that can help you quit va­p­ing.

The fol­low­ing re­sources are use­ful for more in­for­ma­tion:

1.NADAPP (The Na­tion­al Al­co­hol and Drug Abuse Pre­ven­tion Pro­gramme)

62 Aber­crom­by Street, POS

Tel. (868) 627-3506/3527

Web­site: www.nadapp.gov.tt

2. The Sub­stance Abuse and Pre­ven­tion Cen­tre

Cau­ra Hos­pi­tal

El Do­ra­do

Tel. (868) 662-2211/14

3. Uni­ver­si­ty of the West In­dies stu­dent health and well­ness unit smok­ing ces­sa­tion clin­ic.

https://sta.uwi.edu/health/well­ness/

4. Fam­i­lies in Ac­tion

Mar­aval Road, POS

Tel: 628-2333

Ad­di­tion­al re­sources:

Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion. Of­fice on Smok­ing and Health. Talk with Your Teen About E-cig­a­rettes: A Tip Sheet for Par­ents.

https://e-cig­a­rettes.sur­geon­gener­al.gov/doc­u­ments/

Kid­sHealth

https://kid­shealth.org/en/teens/e-cig­a­rettes.html

Paula Robert­son

Pae­di­atric Emer­gency Con­sul­tant