20 January 2023 , 09:18
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A teenage boy has been left in a wheelchair and fed through a tube after suffering a reaction while smoking a vape.
The 17-year-old had a reaction to the aerosol chemicals in e-cigarette fluid and has been treated since last summer.
Dr Elizabeth Garthwaite, a kidney specialist and clinical director for medical specialities with Leeds Teaching Hospitals, told children at Ripon Grammar school the boy suffered and allergic reaction and couldn't breathe.
She said: "He had to be paralysed and was put into a coma. He suffered multiple organ failure, with his heart, lungs, kidney and blood vessels not working properly.
"We are seeing increasing numbers of young people presenting to hospital with problems associated with addiction, but also medical problems which are associated with vaping.
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“It was never designed as a safe alternative. The multiple chemicals used to create the vapes, and in particular the flavours and smells, are often dangerous and have unpredictable consequences."
“It was never designed as a safe alternative," the doctor warned (Getty Images/EyeEm)Earlier this week, Trading Standards said shops selling illegal vaping products to children are among the biggest threats on UK high streets.
Around 60 per cent of 400 Trading Standards officers in a survey said illegal and potentially unsafe vapes were their biggest concern.
By law, around 600 puffs are permitted per vape, but some with high levels of nicotine can contain up to 12,000.
Some people who have vaped for long periods have experienced health problems (Ripon Grammar School)Garthwaite added: “Nicotine, which is addictive, has multiple adverse effects - particularly on the heart, lungs and vascular system,” she told students, in a series of packed talks in the school hall, delivered to students aged 13 to 18 years old.
“Furthermore, some of the chemicals within the fluid can have very damaging effects too – including on the lungs, causing severe acute lung injury - but they are also carcinogenic.
"Some of the chemicals within the fluid can have very damaging effects," Garthwaite said (Ripon Grammar School)“Although there is no tar or smoke, the nicotine and other sticky carbonated chemicals are cancerous and will stick in the lungs and move into your circulation, causing significant damage to the whole body.”
Students were shown pictures of the lungs of a 24-year-old woman after roughly six years of vaping. She had scar-tissue and difficulty breathing and was suffering from a condition known as ‘popcorn lung’.
Eight per cent of 25 to 35-year-olds said they had never vaped (Getty Images/EyeEm)In a recent survey of 16,000 25-35-year-olds, only eight per cent said they had never vaped.
“As health care professionals, we are concerned that vaping is seen as safe and easy for young people," Garthwaite said. "This is not what nicotine replacement was designed for.
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"It was developed to enable those individuals who were addicted to cigarette smoking, and suffering the consequences of this, to reduce their exposure to the toxic smoke and tar released from cigarettes."