Wellness

[Mindy D]

Cases of severe lung injury  (at least 120) in 15 states are being linked to vaping. The situation is still under investigation by the CDC and the CDC has been working with State boards of health. Some patients have been admitted to ICUs in multiple states. Some patients have been put on ventilators. So far, the illness remains a mystery but bacterial and viral pneumonias have been examined and are probably ruled out (maybe). Kathy Harben, a spokesperson for the CDC has stated that, “ To date, there is no consistent evidence that an infectious disease is the culprit.” The only thing that the patients have had in common is a history of vaping. Tracking cases has been difficult because doctors and hospitals are not required to report such cases. Vaping products have been nicotine, CBD, and possibly other cannabis products. Investgators are looking into the black market in states in which some of the vaping is illegal. Imported components, (including carrier oils) of the vaping devices from China are also under investigation. I have not read any reports yet of vaping products linked to this situation that were obtained from legal state cannabis dispensaries, but I have not been looking yet.  Luckily, no deaths have been reported. There are multiple news articles about this if anyone is interested. 

One of my sources is is an article in the Washington Post entitled “ Mystery lung illness linked to vaping. Health officials investigating nearly 100 possible cases.”

UPDATE: this link is to the actual email sent by the CDC to clinicians. The email goes into more detail as to what is known so far. https://emergency.cdc.gov/newsletters/coca/081619.htm

[Still Raining]

Shocked, just shocked that inhaling anything would damage lungs.  Who would have thought?

[chetmax]

ANYTHING CHEMICALLY YOU INHALE IN YOUR LUNGS WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES.  

[SilleeMee]

I saw Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about vaping on the news the other morning. He said that the cases here in the states seem to be found in clusters and that presents a problem with the researchers because they can't say for sure if the lung injuries come from a particular type of vape or maybe it could be from some kind of flavoring used in the vaping products. These problems with trying to narrow it down to the exact cause is also complicated by which batch of vaping products were sold and where they were sold. Gupta went on to say that there needs to be better regulation with vaping products.

[Mindy D]

---

@SilleeMee wrote:

I saw Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about vaping on the news the other morning. He said that the cases here in the states seem to be found in clusters and that presents a problem with the researchers because they can't say for sure if the lung injuries come from a particular type of vape or maybe it could be from some kind of flavoring used in the vaping products. These problems with trying to narrow it down to the exact cause is also complicated by which batch of vaping products were sold and where they were sold. Gupta went on to say that there needs to be better regulation with vaping products.

---

I just read an article by him online and I saw a portion of his television presentation. I strongly agree with him. I’m for much more oversight when it comes to vaping products. I can smell the off gases from someone’s vaping and I feel like I’m in the lab. I’m always trying to identify what I’m smelling, and I’m not even close to the person that is vaping. Right now, the industry is like an unregulated Wild West show. Ingredient mixes of unknown origin are the rule, not the exception, with these products. The users can’t possibly know what they are getting. There are hazardous ingredients involved. 

[SilleeMee]

CBS's show On the Money ...next episode Sunday, will have an interview with the CEO of Juul and also some talk about health hazards of vaping, in particular, CBD.

The CEO of Juul is Kevin Burns...burning is his business in more ways than one if you know what I mean.

[CelticCrafter]

Every once in awhile I will see a commercial for Juul and it states that there's nicotine in it.

So what's the point,  isn't it still addictive?

[Mindy D]

Remember that there are some seriously ill patients that could be using vaping as a method of intake for CBD and THC products from medical dispensaries. Some states don’t allow smoking products at their dispensaries but require vaping products, foods, oils and tinctures for use by these vulnerable patients. Some are cancer patients. Others have disorders such as multiple sclerosis, dystonia, miscellaneous spasmodic conditions, glaucoma and seizures. The CDC did not mention dispensaries in its alert, but this is an on going investigation. 

[chrystaltree]

 Honestly,  I can't say I care.  This is something that those people did to themselves.  It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that using a device to suck drugs and chemicals deep into your repiratory track is risky, very risky.  Having said that, a couple of hundred cases out of the millions of people who vape, is newsworthy but it isn't a significant public health problem.  I'm sure it hasn't stopped anyone from doing it.  

[AngelPuppy1]

I have been disturbed by these things sever since I first saw them and felt they were harmful.  The advertising of them on t.v. has been ridiculous.  They tout them like they are such wonderful things ---  Oh, I used to smoke all the time and now I do ________.  It's still the same harmful addictive substance and the chemicals in these things are so unknown.  And the fact that high school children and young adults are puffing away at these things as though they are just harmless toys --- awful!  

I had the misfortune of being in close proximity to someone who vaped all the time and I feel this added to the health condition that I have.  

More research definitely needs to be done,