What is vaping actually doing to US adults and teens?

 It’s like everywhere I turn, someone is taking a drag of the latest vape, and a lot of these faces can’t be a day over 14. Behind the quick drag, what’s this tiny little device doing to user’s bodies?

Before I get into this, I’d like to note that I myself am a former cigarette smoker and vaper.

Vapes are relatively new. I remember when I first heard about vapes, I understood them to be a way to smoke without smelling like you do, choosing how much nicotine to use, and helping to wean off of cigarettes while fulfilling the oral fixation.

I wanted to gather some usage numbers, so I went to the CDC’s website. In 2024, 1.63 million students were using vapes: 410,000 of them were middle school students and 1.21 million of them were high school students. The CDC explains that many factors encourage vape use in youth, including compelling tobacco advertisements, readily accessible products, and adolescents’ brain sensitivity to tobacco.

In 2021, 13.2 million people reported vaping nicotine in the past 30 days and the CDC reports that vape use in adults is increasing. The number of users rose from 3.7% in 2020 to 4.5% in 2021. Many adult users report smoking both cigarettes and vapes. In 2021, 29.4% of adults who vaped also smoked cigarettes. Dual use refers to smoking both vapes and cigarettes; dual use was reported more common in adults over the age of 45. In adults aged 18-24, 61.4% reported that they vaped but never tried cigarettes.

What’s in a vape?

Vapes have nicotine, the addictive substance that keeps the tobacco market thriving. Vapes also have propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), the two solvents that create a vapor the heated. They also have flavors both artificial and natural to add taste. Additives may also be included like metals, heavy metals, and diacetyl (a chemical directly linked to lung disease).

What does vaping do to you?

The brain

Nicotine is the primary substance in vapes. When nicotine hits the brain, it coerces the reward center in a way similar to the way we experience sex, food, and social connection. As the brain continues to be exposed to nicotine it affiliates it with pleasure urging the human brain to go for more. Therefore, the brain also affiliates tobacco logos and commercials with pleasure. This leads to general dependence.

The brain is in a critical time of development during the late teens and up until the mid-twenties. Vaping while the brain is still developing can lead to difficulty paying attention, an inability to control impulses, and manage moods, and a developed sensitivity to immediate rewards. Youth and young adults that vape can become dependent on nicotine, are susceptible to mental health conditions and are more likely to become addicted to other substances.

The lungs

Harvard Health explains that vaping actually leads to permanent scarring in the lungs. “Popcorn Lung,” or bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a severe inflammation of the lungs as a result of vaping. It causes wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. As time goes on, airways start narrowing and breathing becomes more difficult. In the long term, the potential for lung cancer skyrockets.

Adrenaline shifts

UCLA Health found that exposure to vaping with nicotine actually increased adrenaline levels in the heart. Increased levels of adrenaline in the heart causes the heart to beat faster, blood pressure to rise, and increased blood flow to the muscles. This increases the risk of heart attacks.

Which is safer? Cigarettes or vapes?

The thing is, inhaling anything unnecessary into the lungs is a bold, challenging choice for the body. Cigarettes have been around long enough to know that using them leads to issues like emphysema, lung cancer, asthma, chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These are of no shock to doctors. However, when it comes to vaping, we don’t really know what the long-term situations are. Both products challenge the brain, the lungs, and the heart. At this stage of the game this generation will reveal what happens long-term when people decide to vape.

Just to provide some testimony, smoking vapes absolutely made my lungs feel worse than they did when I was smoking Newports.

Based on my research, there isn’t necessarily a “healthier” or “better” option. Surely, vaping makes it possible to get your nicotine fix without smelling like a pack of cigarettes, and you can also choose the nicotine percentage, but you’re inhaling a foreign, unnecessary substance into your lungs.

If you or someone you love is interested in quitting vaping, know that there is hope. Other options like the nicotine patch make it easier to wean off on nicotine. Chewing gum, drinking water, and snacking on healthy things can help fulfill the oral fixation associated with smoking. Meditation and other hobbies that activate the reward center can also add joy to life without smoking.

So, the mystery remains with this generation of vapers. They will reflect the true long-term effects of deciding to vape, with the true consensus or whether or not vaping or smoking cigarettes is more dangerous.