A patient in Kansas was the sixth person to die from lung disease directly linked to e-cigarette use, on Sept. 10. There are as many as 450 cases related to this incident in younger and older adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some patients have developed symptoms in a few days, and others over the course of weeks. The CDC has an ongoing investigation about the recent deaths and their correlation to the use of e-cigarettes. Due to the new discovery of this, the CDC is now advising people to refrain from using any form of vaping devices, until the known cause.
“People can do whatever they want, it’s their choice to make,” Hunter Fallet, a freshman psychology major, said, when asked about his opinion on the use of e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are newer in America as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. They work by heating liquid, that often contains nicotine, flavoring and other chemicals, into an aerosol that can be inhaled and exhaled.
The CDC has identified several different harmful ingredients in vape juice. The liquid used in the devices contains chemicals such as diacetyl, a chemical that has been discovered to be linked to respiratory issues. It also contains heavy metals such as lead and nickel. Although several of these ingredients could be linked to health issues, they have not been identified as the specific cause of these six recent deaths.
“I personally think that e-cigarettes are bad for your body. There has been so many cases where people have died … and people still continue to use these products,” Jordan Linnen, a junior international business major, said. “Plus they still have nicotine in them so they are not healthier than cigarettes … I guess people follow trends and go with what is popular.”
These devices were originally introduced as a quit aid for cigarette smokers to prevent lung disease. According to the Food and Drug Administration, they have proven ineffective in this role, and are currently not approved by the FDA as a smoke quit aid.
People that have tried it such as Sean Miller, a sophomore computer science major, explain that they are just as addictive as traditional cigarettes. Miller originally started vaping to help himself stop smoking cigarettes, but it has been three years since using vaping devices and he still vapes. He also added that a single tank often has the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of traditional cigarettes.
“It’s almost worse than smoking. It doesn’t leave a bad taste in your mouth, and it doesn’t smell bad, so you end up hitting it more,” Miller said. E-cigarettes and vaping juice are just as dangerous as cigarettes. For more information about the harmful effects of vaping, visit The Truth campaign online.
