Pulmonologist Gambaryan explained why teenagers die from vaping more often than adults
Teenagers’ deaths from vaping are associated with their greater vulnerability to nicotine and other substances due to low body weight compared to adults and underdevelopment of internal organs. Marine Gambaryan, head of the Center for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Consumption of the National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Russian Ministry of Health , told Gazeta.Ru about this .
“The lethal dose of nicotine is about 1 mg per kg of body weight. To get a nicotine overdose when smoking regular cigarettes, a teenager will have to smoke several packs, which he is unlikely to do. With the help of a vape, this milestone is much easier to overcome. And in general, their lungs and brain are not yet fully developed. Their organs are more vulnerable,” she said.
In addition, cases with teenagers are more resonant. When an adult vaper dies, this habit may simply not be associated with death, while the death of an initially healthy teenager is always striking.
“If we talk not so much about teenagers as about young people, in addition to poisoning, you can die, for example, due to pathologies associated with regular vaping. So, in the USA there was a case when a 22-year-old man regularly used electronic cigarettes with a high nicotine content for five years and eventually died of a stroke. There are actually many such cases among young adults. Sometimes, at least in the United States, it was even possible to prove the guilt of the manufacturer, ”added Gambaryan.
Read more about what else young “vapers” risk and who is more susceptible to the “vaper disease” EVALI – in the material of Gazeta.Ru.
