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Vaping has become the latest trend among adults and teens alike. What started as a replacement for traditional cigarettes has become an entirely new issue facing vape users. Experts are especially concerned about the risk this trend is placing on our youth and teenagers. The number of underage vape users is growing each day, so it’s time to talk about what some of those potential health risks are.
Slowed Brain Development
Did you know that brain development continues until age 25? That means that until age 25, young people need to ensure they aren’t harming their brain as it forms. The nicotine found in vape products is shown to slow down and impair brain development. Even more shocking, vape products often contain a higher nicotine content than traditional cigarettes, creating even more of an impact on development.
Addiction
For many teenage vape users, the trend quickly turns into a full-blown addiction. The nicotine used in vape products is highly addictive to users. E-cigarette consumption has created a higher rate of teenage and youth nicotine addiction than ever before. Even worse: many of them don’t even realize they’re addicted.
Behavioral Changes
Studies have shown that the use of vape products has a direct link to other unsafe behavior in teens. These behavioral changes include the use of alcohol, marijuana, and other unsafe substances. Vaping often acts as a stepping stone into a lifestyle filled with unhealthy and addictive behaviors.
Using Multiple Tobacco Products
For regular vape users, it’s common to combine the use of the vape with at least one other tobacco-based product. From hookah to cigars and even regular cigarettes, vaping youth is proven to be at a high risk of using similar substances. Many vape users argue that their vape use lowers their risk of other, more harmful forms of tobacco addiction, but that isn’t the case.
Product Safety
A vape itself comes with risks aside from the nicotine and potential addiction. Most notably, the chemicals used to make the vape solution have direct ties to lung disease. You may even be able to find tin, nickel, and other heavy metals in the vape solution! If harmful ingredients aren’t enough to curb your interest in vaping, the risk of the vape itself should be. There have been multiple instances of vapes exploding or catching fire and harming the owner. Ultimately, a vape is an electronic device that comes with unavoidable and unknown risks.
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