Can You Get Addicted to Vaping?
Legacy Healing Center Blog
The controversy surrounding vaping has grown tremendously recently.
Vape or vaping refers to an electronic apparatus that heats a liquid with a battery that contains nicotine, or other substances, which is this inhaled. The popularity of the substance has caused many people to ask, ‘can you get addicted to vaping?’
Vaping increased rapidly in popularity because of its portability, its lack of smelly smoke and its ability to mix tasty flavors in the devices.
Health hazards of vaping have shown up quickly due to the rapid popularity and research is now showing that vaping could be as harmful as smoking cigarettes, but can you get addicted to vaping?
Vaping has created a craze revolving around not only the convenience of the e-cigs but what their oils can contain as well as the amount of smoke that can be produced. Vape addiction is 100% possible because these e-cigs contain nicotine and have other attractive qualities that make using them easy and even fun.
Continue reading to learn more about vape addiction and the health hazards of vaping.
Health Hazards of Vaping
Can you get addicted to vaping? Yes. Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes contain a liquid that has nicotine in it. This liquid normally also contains flavoring and the nicotine in these devices is just as addictive as regular cigarettes.
They are considered tobacco products and although they are advertised to not contain as many harmful products like regular cigarettes, they do contain ingredients that are harmful. These potentially harmful ingredients are:
- Particles that are ultrafine that can be lodged deep in the lungs when inhaled
- The flavorings used in can contain chemicals that are linked to lung disease
- Organic compounds that are volatile
- Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead
Vapes have become increasingly popular, especially with young adults and this can be noted in the growth of the use of e-cigarettes. More high school students are using e-cigarettes than adults when at a time more adults were smoking than teens. Because there are so many teens and young adults using e-cigarettes, many of the vape addiction side effects affect the brain as well as behavior.
The brain continues to grow until age 25 and because of that, younger people learn things more quickly than adults. This can be the same for a vape addiction. Because addiction is a form of learning, young adults can more quickly and more easily develop an addiction. This can also be a key factor in leading young adults into trying other drugs and forming an addiction.
Another one of the major health hazards of vaping is the aerosol, or smoke, from the vapes. Research is ongoing on the health risks of the smoke because of how many illnesses are popping up due to vaping. It can not only affect the immune system but also inhibit more genes that help play a role in fighting an infection.
The effects of the aerosol are still being understood but what is known is that the contents of the vape are heated and turned into smoke, which is then inhaled from the device by its users.
The smoke can contain chemicals linked to lung disease, particles that can be lodged in the lungs as well as heavy metals or organic compounds. Vaping can also cause:
- Fainting
- Dizziness
- Irregular heartbeats
- High blood pressure
- Inflamed lungs
- Fire hazards if an explosion of the vaping device occurred
Developing a Vape Addiction
Vaping has also made it easier for individuals to use illegal substances in public because vapes are also made with synthetic drugs and marijuana compounds such as delta 8 vape carts that we have been seeing more of recently. Because vaping hardly creates a scent, it can be used in public places making it difficult for law enforcement to tell whether individuals are using illegal substances or not.
The major concern about vaping and e-cigarettes right now is that the safety of it has yet to be established and as health hazards appear, research is ongoing. Individuals using vaping products may want to wean themselves off of it until more research is made available to ensure that the exact effects are known before vaping frequently.
The recovery specialists at Legacy Healing Center can help guide addicts through the various treatment programs available. Contact a recovery specialist today by calling 888-597-3547.