What was once hailed as a healthier alternative to smoking is now facing a major crackdown, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced new vaping measures in the UK.
In a bid to halt the rise in vaping among young people and children, an upcoming disposable vape ban has been announced along with new laws which will restrict certain flavours of vapes marketed specifically at children.
Why is there a ban on disposable vapes?
Some nine percent of 11 to 15-year-olds are now using vapes, meanwhile the proportion of 11 to 17-year-old's using disposables has increased by ninefold in the last two years.
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Vaping is particularly concerning due to the fact that the long-term health impacts are currently unknown.
However, there are some disturbing side effects that can happen from vaping.
What are the potential health risks of vaping?
1) Heart disease
Chemicals in vape pens can be damaging to the heart as The American Heart Association (AHA) has linked teenage vaping with cardiovascular disease.
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"The latest research suggests that vaping is as harmful to the body's cardiovascular systems as cigarettes," said Dr Hoang Nguyen a cardiologist from MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute in California.
2) Lung disease
Inflamed lungs can lead to a person wheezing and struggling to breathe as studies demonstrate that vaping can be harmful to you.
Yale Medicine says that lung illness EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury) has a link with vitamin E acetate, which is found in some THC vaping products, and when inhaled this causes lung damage.
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The symptoms of EVALI include being short of breath, coughing, suffering from chest pains, rapid and shallow breathing, an increased heart rate, fevers and chills, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
3) Sperm count
Turkish scientists wanted to see what effects vaping had on the testicle size and sperm count of rats.
Mice and rats have anatomical, physiological, and genetic similarities to humans and that's why they're used all the time during experiments.
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The study - published in the Spanish medical journal Revista Internacional de Andrología - found that sperm count dropped to around 95.1 million per ml from an average of 98.5 million per ml when hit with the e-cigarette vapour and 89 million when exposed to traditional cigarette smoke.
The rats exposed to cigarette smoke had the smallest testes compared to the e-cigarette and control group.
In the most severe cases, they discovered some rats with stopped germ cell separation, cavity formation, necrosis, fibrosis, and atrophy.
4) Slow down in brain development
The most important organ in the body - the brain - is also impacted when you keep hitting a vape, particularly if you're in your teens.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the brain is still developing until you turn 25.
"Using nicotine in adolescence can permanently harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control," they said.
5) Tooth decay
London based dentist Dr Vikas Prinja, who goes by @thelondondentist online, shared a video of a particular patient whose teeth were stained yellow/brown, which is caused by the nicotine and tar in vapes.
Dr Prinja said: "This is smokers staining, it covers the top layers of the teeth with a yellow/brown stain."
Dr Michael Heffernan, a dentist at The Wessex Dental Specialist Care, also added: "We also know that nicotine (present in e-cigarettes) can restrict blood flow to the gums, and poor circulation can result in more significant gum disease around teeth and potential loss of dental implants.
"However, these effects are less harmful than smoking or chewing tobacco products."
When will disposable vapes be banned?
The ban is expected to come into force early next year, and once a date is confirmed retailers will be given six months to follow the rules.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock ImagesTopics: Vaping, UK News, Health