Wednesday 13 July 2022 10:27 PM Up to 95% of people who develop severe 'popcorn lung' as a result of vaping ... trends now
While some may see vape and e-cigarette devices as safe alternatives to cigarettes, experts warn that users can develop the devastating condition 'popcorn lung' - and that those who suffer the most severe case are unlikely to survive.
Bronchiolitis obliterans, the official medical diagnosis for popcorn lung, occurs when a person's lungs become significantly scarred due to the inhalation of dangerous chemicals or via an infection of some sort.
Experts are warning that many users of electronic nicotine devices - like Juuls - are developing the condition at alarming rates, especially at younger ages where these types of conditions are rare.
Dr Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins University tells DailyMail.com that those who suffer the most severe cases of the condition will likely die from respiratory failure within five years of it developing.
Controversy around these devices has reemerged in recent weeks after the Food and Drug Administration chose to pull Juul products from shelves, before allowing the company temporary reprieve as it reevaluated its decision.
Experts was that users of vape and e-cigarette nicotine devices are vulnerable to developing 'popcorn lung', a condition that could require a lung transplant and even result in death in more severe cases (file photo)
‘Whether it’s vaping, e-cigarettes or combustible cigarettes. They all come with noxious chemicals that exploit the addictive properties of nicotine,' Galiatsatos said.
Many companies who market these products claim their value lies in helping users of combustible tobacco products - like cigarettes - instead use a safer alternative.
Tobacco is dangerous on its own and cigarettes also have many other chemicals in them that put users at risk of multiple types of cancer, cardio vascular conditions and more health defects.
Nicotine is the substance that a user will actually become addicted to, though, and removing the rest of the dangerous chemicals and just letting a person use the drug on its own is safer - according to e-cigarette and vape manufacturers.
Dr Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins, warns that the five year mortality rate of popcorn lung could be as high as 95%
Some experts are sounding the alarm that this is not quite the case, though.
‘Often times you hear that using e-cigarettes or vaping is less problematic of a nicotine delivery device. But it has its own set of potential health problems that go with it,' Dr Clayton Cowl, a pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic, told DailyMail.com.
'The problem with many of the newer devices coming out is that it is not just about nicotine it is about other products that can be placed within those devices
