What parents need to know — and do — about e-cigarettes

Here’s why parents need to know about e-cigarettes. First, many more teens are using them. In 2017, 3% of middle school students and 12% of high school students reported using them, and while that may not sound like a lot, since 2011 use has gone up about 500% in middle school and 800% among high school students. And, e-cigarettes can be dangerous. How e-cigarettes work E-cigarettes are basically delivery devices for nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco. The hope of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is that they might possibly decrease smoking — which would be great, as smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. It’s the smoke itself that causes the vast majority of the health risk, so the idea was that perhaps if you gave people a way to inhale nicotine that didn’t involve burning tobacco, you might get them away from tobacco, especially if you were able to gradually decrease the amount of nicotine they inhale. The problem is that not only did it turn out that these devices don’t really help people quit, they are being marketed to youth, and youth are buying them. Why e-cigarettes are especially dangerous for young people This is where the danger comes in. E-cigarettes are dangerous for youth in at least three ways: Nicotine can affect developing brains, putting young users at higher risk of addiction and mental health problems. Inhaling the vapor itself can cause breathing problems. E-cigarette use makes it more likely th...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Adolescent health Parenting Source Type: blogs