“Vaping isn’t good for you.” You’ve probably heard that many times over the last few years since vaping became a thing. While it might have seemed fun or rebellious to ignore these warnings in the past, there are a few reasons why it is unwise to continue to ignore them now.
“Safer” Doesn’t Mean Safe Enough
Vaping and e-cigarettes are said to be safer than smoking, but that is not completely true. While vaping almost absolutely produces less harmful chemicals than cigarettes, it still poses a huge risk to respiratory health especially for children and young people. Vaping is sometimes used as a helper to quit smoking. Although it is a bit of a step down from smoking, studies show that there is a chance that some smokers continue smoking as they are vaping. This is called dual use. If you’re trying to quit smoking, vaping is not a very wise route to take. And if you’ve never smoked before, vaping makes you more likely to start smoking. Both habits tend to go hand-in-hand.
Another thing about vaping is that even though it is “safer,” it still produces a significant amount of nicotine and other chemicals that are harmful to the growing brains of children, adolescents, and even young adults. I was a bit surprised to learn this but the fact is that our brains are still developing well into our early to mid-twenties. Vaping affects the part of the brain that is responsible for decision making and personality development. It exposes young people to many health risks such as nicotine addiction, mood disorders, and permanent lowering of impulse control. Young people who go through prolonged periods of vaping grow into adults with underdeveloped brains. This phenomenon is quite concerning for our future as a society, in my opinion, because the next generation of leaders will be battling all these long-term effects of vaping that affect their decision-making abilities. I am personally genuinely disturbed when I think about the possibility of a future where our leaders are not capable of making the right decisions for our society. And with all that we’ve been fighting against, especially this year, I think we need (and deserve) better leaders in our future – leaders that have sound minds with fully developed and healthy brains.
Vaping and COVID-19
Bringing us back to the present, I would like to talk about vaping and COVID-19 in children and young people. We’ve been hearing that the younger you are, the less likely you are to contract COVID-19. There is sufficient scientific evidence to back this up. However, there is also significant scientific evidence that tells us that people with pre-existing conditions, regardless of age, are more vulnerable to the disease and more likely to die from it when they contract it. It may or may not surprise you to read this, but everyone who vapes habitually has a serious pre-existing condition. The inhalation of nicotine and other chemicals in vapes affects our lungs’ ability to fight against pathogens like bacteria and viruses. This causes constant inflammation in the lungs. This inflammation, plus the presence of a deadly virus like the coronavirus makes it difficult for the lungs to fight the virus and increases the risk of complications from the disease.
Vaping also causes the over-expression of a protein called ACE2 which is responsible for regulating blood pressure. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 binds to this protein to properly infect the lung cells. With an overproduction of this protein, it’s just more pathways for the virus to enter the cells in the lungs. There is a huge increase in susceptibility to coronavirus infection. That is quite obviously not a good thing
Researchers at Stanford University published a study in August that linked vaping to a considerable increase in the risk of contracting COVID-19 in teens. The study said that the increase in the risk of contracting COVID-19 and showing symptoms was “not just a small increase, but a big one.” It was found to be five to seven times more. The study also showed that children and young people who had vaped or used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days were five times more likely to be symptomatic when they contracted COVID-19 than their counterparts who had never smoked or vaped.
The Bottom Line
There are many more reasons why vaping is not good for any of us, but I felt the need to bring these key points to attention because they affect us all directly and indirectly, and they are very relevant to the here and now. I hope that after reading this article you understand that vaping is not just bad for us, it’s bad for our society’s future. Children and young people are the largest demographic in the U.S. that uses vapes and e-cigarettes. If any of these young people continue vaping, their underdeveloped brains will be a great detriment to our society in the future. I think we are all familiar with what it’s like to have leaders who seem to have underdeveloped brains. We don’t want that in our future, do we?
If there was ever a perfect time to quit vaping, it’s now.