Minneapolis – Sales of e-cigarettes are on the rise, and it is mainly young people who are hooked on e-cigarettes.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 18 to 24-year-olds are the most likely to smoke e-cigarettes, but 9% of 11- to 15-year-olds say they regularly smoke e-cigarettes. .
One of them, 22-year-old Jackson Allard from North Dakota, nearly died due to his vaping habit. Now he’s warning others of the dangers.
Smoking cigarettes can destroy your lungs, but a shocking new study reveals why vaping can harm your heart
In addition to causing addiction, e-cigarettes can cause permanent damage to the lungs, according to the CDC.
Last October, Allard developed parainfluenza, which led to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. His lungs were filling with fluid.
Jackson Allard, pictured, was hospitalized for three months until he was healthy enough to qualify as a transplant recipient. He now meets weekly with other lung transplant patients for rehabilitation. “It’s a little weird because I’m the youngest ever,” Allard said. (Doreen Hurlburt)
“I was really sick, I could hardly sleep, I was throwing up all the time,” Allard told Fox News.
The young man was on ECMO, a life support machine, for 70 days.
“He had a 1% chance to live,” Allard said.
His lungs were so badly damaged that he underwent a double lung transplant in January 2024. This was an unusual surgery for someone his age.
Smoking shrinks the brain and increases risk of Alzheimer’s disease, new study finds
“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Will I ever be able to live a normal life after this?'” Allard said.
Allard and his family live in Fargo, North Dakota, but are renting an apartment in Minneapolis while he recovers from his transplant.
He goes to rehab twice a week and has weekly blood tests. He also has his PICC line, a tube connected to a vein for long-term medication, cleaned weekly. Allard takes his 30 pills a day, and his family is responsible for giving him IV medication.
“There was a 1% chance of survival.”
Based on doctors’ opinions, Allard and his grandmother, Doreen Hurlburt, believe vaping is to blame for his lung failure.
“I was probably 14 years old when I first started vaping, and I was vaping almost non-stop,” Allard said. He later started using weed vaping as well.
“I told a friend of mine who smokes, ‘Be careful,'” Allard said, suggesting that he use marijuana gummies instead of e-cigarettes.
Jackson’s grandmother Doreen Hurlburt (pictured) said: (Mills Hayes/Fox News)
His grandmother, Doreen Hurlburt, said she complained daily about Jackson’s vaping habit.
“Doctors have told me, ‘If you smoke cigarettes for 50 years, you’re going to get lung cancer; if you smoke vaping for five years, you’re going to see permanent lung damage,'” Hurlburt told Fox News. Ta.
Allard cannot drink or smoke and has a weakened immune system, so he must avoid large crowds.
First new ‘smoking cessation’ drug in 20 years shows promising results in US trial: ‘Hope and excitement’
Dr. Brooke Moore, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Hospital of Minnesota, doesn’t treat Allard, but she frequently sees patients with lung injuries related to vaping.
“We’ve seen kids who have vaped, not necessarily frequent users, but for a short period of time, end up with pretty significant lung damage from it,” Moore told Fox News. Ta.
Most of Allard’s friends just turned 21 and they all go out to bars, but after a double lung transplant, she is not allowed to drink alcohol or go to crowded places. “What I’m a little concerned about is the social aspect,” he told Fox News. (Mills Hayes/Fox News)
The majority of patients Moore sees with vaping-related problems are between the ages of 16 and 19.
Some patients have lung damage, while others have milder respiratory symptoms.
“We’ve done a very good job of educating young people not to start smoking traditional tobacco-based cigarettes,” Moore said.
“We don’t have a lot of long-term data on e-cigarette products, but in the short term the risk appears to be just as high as cigarettes, and I would argue that in some cases it’s worse.”
US schools invest millions in surveillance technology to fight teen vaping epidemic
Moore said her patients typically vape THC and nicotine.
“It doesn’t seem like smoking just nicotine or just THC has a lower risk of lung disease than either,” she says.
Doctors noted that most patients who vape have underlying mental health concerns, such as anxiety, depression, or a combination.
Dr. Brooke Moore, pictured, said she expects patients to come in complaining of coughs and shortness of breath from vaping. “They have created flavors and advertising that mimic many of the things that children, teenagers and young adults like to consume,” she said of the manufacturers. (Mills Hayes/Fox News)
“They’re using vaping products to self-medicate,” Moore said. “This points to a much bigger problem than just people vaping.”
2019 saw a major outbreak of e-cigarette or e-cigarette product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). These cases were related to vitamin E acetate, which is found in e-cigarette products.
Click here to sign up for our health newsletter
As of February 2020, more than 2,800 patients were admitted to various U.S. hospitals due to EVALI, and 68 people were reported to have died.
But in 2020, the CDC stopped tracking EVALI cases.
That’s when Dr. Kristi Sadrimeri of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center started paying more attention.
Doctors have warned that many e-cigarette products on sale to the public are “likely to be on the market illegally”. (St. Petersburg)
“If you ask me how many EVALI cases occur in the United States every year, we no longer know that,” Sadrimeri told FOX News Digital.
“It’s definitely still there. And I’m still worried about it.”
Many of the e-cigarette products sold to the public are “likely to be on the market illegally,” Sadrimeli added.
“It’s on the market without approval or review.”
“It’s hard to enforce things like that because they haven’t gone through the FDA review or approval process. These things were already on the market,” she continued.
“They’re kind of on the market without approval or vetting. So that’s kind of gross.”
According to WebMD, symptoms of lung injury associated with vaping include cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever, and gastrointestinal symptoms.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
If you frequently vape and experience a combination of these symptoms, experts advise that you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Patients who want to quit smoking can work with their doctors to develop a plan.
Smoking cessation support groups and programs are also available.
For more health articles, visit: www.foxnews.com/health.
