Number of kids hospitalised by vaping QUADRUPLES in a year - as experts fear ... trends now

Number of kids hospitalised by vaping QUADRUPLES in a year - as experts fear ... trends now
Number of kids hospitalised by vaping QUADRUPLES in a year - as experts fear ... trends now

Number of kids hospitalised by vaping QUADRUPLES in a year - as experts fear ... trends now

The number of British kids being hospitalised by vaping has quadrupled in a year, according to data.

Some 32 instances of under-18s needing medical treatment for e-cigarette-related ailments were recorded in 2022.

This was up from just eight in the year before, NHS statistics show. 

Experts have repeated their demands for a crackdown on vaping on the back of the figures, warning the figure will only get higher.

Prevalence of the gadgets — which can contain as much nicotine as 50 cigarettes — has doubled among kids in less than a decade.

Calls for tougher action come amid soaring vaping rates have doubled among children over the past decade

Calls for tougher action come amid soaring vaping rates have doubled among children over the past decade

NHS Digital, which quizzed nearly 10,000 students aged 11 to 15 on their smoking, drug and drinking habits last year, found that nine per cent currently vape — the highest rate logged since the survey began in 2014

NHS Digital, which quizzed nearly 10,000 students aged 11 to 15 on their smoking, drug and drinking habits last year, found that nine per cent currently vape — the highest rate logged since the survey began in 2014

Just one in eight adults in Britain were frequent smokers in 2021, down by five per cent on last year, according to the Office for National Statistics' Annual Population Survey (blue line). Meanwhile, 4million over-16s now use e-cigarettes — up by a fifth in just 12 months (red line)

Just one in eight adults in Britain were frequent smokers in 2021, down by five per cent on last year, according to the Office for National Statistics' Annual Population Survey (blue line). Meanwhile, 4million over-16s now use e-cigarettes — up by a fifth in just 12 months (red line)

Despite it being illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s, one in 10 secondary school pupils are now regular users.

Almost every high street now has a designated vape shop, with e-cigarettes sold for as little as £5.

What do the recent studies on e-cigarettes say? 

People who vape experience 'worrisome changes' in their blood pressure 

Vaping causes your blood pressure and heart rate to spike immediately afterwards, a study claimed.

University of Wisconsin experts found vaping and smoking cause people's heart rates to spike 15 minutes after use and put the body in 'fight or flight' mode. 

The study, presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2022, looked at data for 395 participants — 164 vapers, 117 smokers and 114 who had no history of nicotine, e-cigarette or tobacco use.

Co-lead author Matthew Tattersall, an assistant professor of medicine at the university, said: 'Immediately after vaping or smoking, there were worrisome changes in blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability and blood vessel tone (constriction).' 

But the study has not been peer-reviewed and was only observational, so researchers could not prove vapes were actually causing the heart issues. 

E-cigarette users are less fit than people who do not vape

Vapers perform worse when exercising than non-smokers and are more akin to smokers, a study claims. 

Researchers looked at data from the same participants as the previous study.

After 90 minutes on the machine, they were given four heart screenings to determine overall health of the organ.

People who vaped scored 11 per cent lower than those who did not use nicotine.

Smokers had test scores 16 per cent lower than the control group. 

Dr Aruni Bhatnagar, a professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville said: 'These studies add to the growing body of science that shows similar cardiovascular injury among people who use e-cigarettes and those who smoke combustible cigarettes.'

Vaping is 'just as bad as cigarettes for your heart'

Vapers are at the same risk of heart disease as cigarette users, according to US federally-funded research. 

In two studies, one on mice and one on people, e-cigarettes were found to cause similar damage to blood vessels as smoking tobacco. 

The findings from experts at the University of California, San Francisco were published in the American Heart Association’s journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB). 

Despite the difference in ingredients that make up e-cigarette aerosol and cigarette smoke, the researchers found that blood vessel damage does not appear to be caused by a specific component of cigarette smoke or e‑cigarette vapor. 

Rather, it appears to be caused by airway irritation which triggers biological signals in the valgus nerve.

Dr Matthew Springer, a professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco said: 'We were surprised to find that there was not a single component that you could remove to stop the damaging effect of smoke or vapors on the blood vessels.'  

'As long as there’s an irritant in the airway, blood vessel function may be impaired,' he said.

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Unlike tobacco, however, the gadgets don't need to be hidden behind shutters. 

Gadgets are often sold in snazzy colours and with child-friendly names and flavours, like bubble-gum and strawberry milkshake.

Marketing of the devices has been likened to that of alcopops.

The figures on hospital admissions among kids came from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by LBC.

It shows that 15 of the incidents were in children aged under 10.

And, among all age groups, vaping-related hospitalisations nearly doubled, hitting 344.

NHS Digital, which supplied the data, did not state whether all the 32 admissions

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