A 20-year-old’s addiction to e-cigarettes has left her hospitalized with a rare lung disease.
According to doctors, she may even become dependent on an oxygen machine before she turns 30.
Abby Flynn, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK, claims she had never smoked before but started using e-cigarettes in the summer of 2021 “because they were in”.
What was fun quickly became an addiction, with the woman consuming the equivalent of 140 cigarettes a week.
And that’s how it went, until, one morning in January of this year, he woke up unable to breathe and with an uncontrollable cough.
Seeking medical help at Milton Keynes Hospital, she underwent tests, which revealed she had developed “popcorn lungs”.
“I was lying in the emergency room panicking and crying because I couldn’t catch my breath. I couldn’t walk and my cough was horrible,” she explained.
Popcorn lung is the nickname for bronchiolitis obliterans, a condition that damages the bronchioles – the smallest airways in the lungs – and creates multiple air pockets, which make the lungs look like a bag of popcorn.
Increasingly popular in Brazil, the vape, electronic cigarette or e-cigarette has become a true phenomenon among young people. The product generally looks similar to a common cigarette, but can also be found in pen drive or pen format.Martina Paraninfi/Getty Images
****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-3.jpgIn colorful packaging, with different flavors, without the bad smell of traditional cigarettes and with a lot of smoke, the products are very common, especially among people aged 18 to 24, despite being banned in Brazil.Leonardo De La Cuesta/Getty Images
****Photo-electronic-cigarette-2.jpgOverall, the product is composed of battery, atomizer, microprocessor, LED lamp and liquid nicotine cartridge. These mechanisms are responsible for heating the liquid that produces the vapor inhaled by users.Dirk Kruse/EyeEm/Getty Images
*****Photo-cigarette-and-common-electronic-cigarette-1.jpgDespite being widely used around the world and initially introduced in the market as an alternative to regular cigarettes, vapes are dangerous to health, according to the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM)Martina Paraninfi/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-9.jpgDoctors claim that electronic cigarettes are “a threat to public health” and pose even more risks than regular cigarettes, in addition to being a gateway for young people into the world of nicotine.Yana Iskayeva/Getty Images
*****Photo-electronic-cigarette-4.jpgThese experts claim that the metal filament that heats the liquid is composed of heavy metals that end up being inhaled, such as nickel, a carcinogenic substance.Shahril Affandi Khairuddin / EyeEm/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-1.jpgStill according to experts, the liquid produced by electronic cigarettes has at least 80 chemical substances considered dangerous and responsible for reinforcing nicotine dependence.sestovic/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-6.jpgIn addition, the daily use of electronic cigarettes causes an inflammatory state in various organs of the body, including the brain. New research indicates that use can also deregulate some genes and cause the user to develop a condition called EVALE, damage caused by the product in the lungs.RyanJLane/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-8.jpgNeurologist Wanderley Cerqueira, from Albert Einstein Hospital, explains that the effects on the user vary depending on the nicotine and liquid flavors, which influence how the body responds to infections. According to him, mint vapes, for example, make people more sensitive to the effects of bacterial pneumonia than other flavorings.seksan Mongkhonkhamsao/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-4.jpgThe expert warns that immune cells appear to be deactivated as the lungs are continually doused with chemicals. This process weakens the body’s defenses against threats such as pneumonia or cancer.Diego Cervo/EyeEm/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-2.jpgStill according to the doctor, even flavorless vapes are dangerous. This is because they have other chemical additives in their composition, such as propylene glycol, glycerin, formaldehyde and nicotine itself, which causes cancer.hocus-focus/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-5.jpgResearch at Duke University in the United States found dangerous levels of toxins in products used to impart a minty sensation to electronic cigarettes. Problems were found in several brands of these substances, but mainly in Puffbar, one of the most popular in the world. HEX/Getty Images
*****Photo-person-smoking-electronic-cigarette-7.jpgThe scientists found levels of WS-3 and WS-23 toxins above those considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the product’s fluid. Of the 25 liquids analyzed, 24 had WS-3, for exampleGetty Images
*****Photo-electronic-cigarette-3.jpgThe substances are used in food additives to give the minty “cooler” without the mint flavor, but should not be inhaled. They are also found in products in mango or vanilla flavors.Daniel Cabajewski/EyeEm/Getty Images
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Lung damage is irreversible and can be fatal without proper treatment.
After the illness, the young woman swore never to smoke again, especially after doctors told her about the serious consequences if she didn’t stop smoking.
Abby Flynn said she used to buy disposable e-cigarettes every time she passed a shop near her home, generating an expenditure of £135 a month (approximately R$ 840). And she smoked a variety of sweet flavors, including bubblegum, which made the addiction even more appealing.
“I’ve had asthma since I was nine or ten. I started vaping about a year and a half ago. I didn’t smoke before so I literally went straight to vape.”
After several hours in the hospital, she was discharged and told to take steroids every morning until she had specialist medical follow-up to review the health of her lungs.
“Vaping is really not worth it. Now I struggle to breathe every day,” lamented Abby Flynn.
hazardous chemicals
Several scientists suggest that there may be a possible link between the disease and a chemical called diacetyl. However, more research is needed.
Some liquids in e-cigarettes used to contain diacetyl. In the UK, for example, the chemical was banned in e-cigarette liquids under the EU Tobacco Product Directive in 2016.
Rare disease
Like toxic chemicals, infections and autoimmune diseases can also cause popcorn lung.
Signs of the disease include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, tiredness, fever, night sweats and rash.
Doctors may prescribe steroids and an inhaler to reduce inflammation and help with breathing. In severe cases, a lung transplant may be required.
Patients need lifelong care and are advised to avoid air pollution and, of course, to stop smoking.
