Talking to Your Teen About Vaping: Here’s What Parents Should Know – Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Now that adolescents are more likely to vape than smoke cigarettes, it might not be quite as easy for parents to spot (or smell) the warning signs that their teens are using nicotine.

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Electronic cigarettes are often easy-to-hide devices that produce a pleasant odor that fades quickly. So if youre worried that your teen might be using them, your best bet is to start a conversation.

According to 2018 data from FDA, one in five high schoolers in the U.S. has vaped at least once in the last 30 days.

While the long-term health effects of vaping arent yet clear, recent reports of hundreds of cases of vaping-related lung illness have many parents on high alert.

Pulmonologist and smoking cessation specialist Humberto Choi, MD, recommends that every parent have an open and honest conversation about vaping with their teenager. Even if your child isnt vaping, chances are they know someone who is or will be offered an opportunity to try it.

Since vaping hasnt been around for very long, scientific studieshavent yet been able to determine its long-term health effects and whether itcan lead to emphysema, heart disease or cancer like smoking can.

But short-term effects are starting to come to light. In therecent outbreak of vaping-related illnesses, hundreds of people in the U.S. havebeen admitted to hospitals with coughing, breathing complications and wheezingdue to lung inflammation.

In many but not all of these cases of illness, patientsreported that they vaped THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Studies have found that e-cigarette juice can contain a number of other ingredients that may irritate the lungs, including:

I think all of these cases prove a point that vaping is notsafe, Dr. Choi says. We dont know exactly if theres any single agent orsubstance thats responsible for all of these diseases, but what they have incommon is vaping itself.

Something that concerns me is the fact that many peopleusing e-cigarettes are very young, so theyre very susceptible to addiction, Dr.Choi notes.

Because parts of the brain are still developing during adolescence, exposure to nicotine during these years can be damaging. Research has shown that smoking during adolescence puts a person more at risk for memory and attention problems, as well as mental and behavioral issues later in life.

When you talk to your teen about the dangers of vaping, try to understand and address the different factors that might motivate them to try it. (Peer pressure? Stress? Wanting to look more grown up?)

Ask what they know about vaping and clear up anymisconceptions they might have. Then ask if theyve seen friends or classmatesdo it, and how they feel about it. Talk through good ways to respond if theyever feel pressured to try it.

If you feel like youre not getting through to them, itsperfectly reasonable to ask your childs doctor to discuss it with them attheir next appointment.

Signs your teen is vapingmight include:

Unfortunately, experts arentyet sure what the best method is to help people quit e-cigarettes, Dr. Choisays. But he recommends starting with counseling.

The way we approach thesepatients will likely be similar to how we approach a cigarette smoker, but withsome adaptation to adjust to the habits, he says.

By that, hes referring to the fact that smokers go throughcigarettes one by one. They have to go somewhere, light the cigarette and thenfinish it. People who vape, on the other hand, are continuously inhaling nicotinethroughout the day. So the strategies for quitting may need to be tweaked.

An even better option? Giving teens information and support that could help prevent them from starting in the first place. Dr. Choi offers a final thought: The lungs were made to breathe clean air, and thats what we should be doing.

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Talking to Your Teen About Vaping: Here's What Parents Should Know - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic