Fredericksburg Parent

32 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • December 2021 Ask the Expert a sk t h e e x p e rt INTERVIEWED BY EMILY FREEHLING Teen Vaping is a Public Health Crisis More than 2 million American high schoolers and middle schoolers report some degree of e-cigarette use, according to a 2021 survey by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Known as "e-cigs," "vape sticks," or "vape pens," these devices' growing popularity among teens and adolescents presents a serious public health problem, says Dr. Timothy Sherwood, director of the Thoracic Surgery Program at Mary Washington Hospital. "It's important to understand the harm associated with e-cigarette usage," he says, "not only directly from the e-cigarettes, but also from the potential they have to introduce children to tobacco products." A growing body of evidence suggests that e-cigarettes are serving as a "gateway drug" that makes teens far more likely to try traditional cigarettes than those who stay away from vaping. A 2018 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that kids who tried vaping were more than four times more likely to pick up a regular cigarette. The CDC has stated that teen vaping is the main driver behind rising tobacco usage rates among U.S. middle and high school students. Mary Washington Healthcare urges parents to talk to children about the dangers of e-cigarette use There may not be smoke, but there's still nicotine Nearly all e-cigarette products— including many of the flavored "vape juices" favored by teens— contain nicotine, a highly addic- tive substance. The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that young brains, which are still growing and developing, are at greater risk for long-term impacts when exposed to nicotine. These can include mood disorders, addic- tion, the permanent lowering of impulse control and difficulties with attention and learning. Sherwood says it's important for parents to talk with their children about the dangers of nicotine addiction, tobacco use and e-cigarettes—which the CDC has linked to thousands of cases of acute lung injury caused by chemicals within the vaping fluids. "It's difficult because there is so much peer pressure we are fighting," says Sherwood, a father of four. "At this age, kids feel as though nothing can hurt them. They usually consider this a short-term phase that they are going to be in, and they think they will quit eventually." But Sherwood's experience treating lung cancer patients with a long-term history of smoking tells a different story. He says that even receiving the news that their habit has caused a life-threatening disease is not enough to lure many long-time smokers from the pull of nico- tine. "Unfortunately, nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs that we know of," he says. "It is very, very difficult to quit, even when you are faced with a lung can- cer diagnosis. Avoiding nicotine usage from the very beginning is the key element to preventing these long-term health conse- quences."

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