The number of individuals using e-cigarettes has dramatically increased over the years, reaching the current status of an epidemic. Despite this alarming rate, the devices and their health consequences on the adolescent population are rarely studied. According to an article published by “News Medical Life Sciences,” an estimate of about 9.6% of eighth graders are vaping, 19.9% of tenth graders are vaping, and 25.5% of twelfth graders are vaping. A group of researchers, led by Associate Director of Research for the Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Robinder Khemani, MD, MSci, is bound to find new evidence on the health effects of e-cigarette use in adolescent populations. The team plans to focus on the new condition defined by the Center for Disease control—EVALI, which means “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated injury.” This ongoing study is phase II of the clinical trials he is already leading—REDvent (“Real-time- Effort Driven VENTilator)—which tests a new method for ventilator therapy on patients. About 90% of the patients involved in the trial have had pediatric acute respiratory disease (PARDS), causing leakage into the lungs which makes it hard for the individual to breathe. The study is focused on children and adolescents at the intensive care unit who have PARDS, and examines if “the lung injury experienced from vaping is similar to lung injury resulting from other PARDS triggers.” A very unique factor of this study is its research in the health consequences of secondary exposure of vaping and whether or not it increases the probability of more severe lung injury when diagnosed with PARDS. Dr. Kehmani and his team hope to “debunk the myth that vaping is benign.”
Study Observes Long-Term Health Effects on Children and Adolescents Who Suffer from PARDS and Use E-Cigarettes
