People are becoming increasingly concerned with the dangers related to vaping and, according to one Wisconsin teen, they have good cause for concern.
Logan Krahmer is a 16-year-old who, like hundreds of other teens across the country, turned to vaping as an alternative to smoking cigarettes.
The teen was admitted to the American Family Children’s hospital in Madison, WI. He was sent to the intensive care unit because he was unable to breathe on his own. Now, he is just beginning his long journey to recovery, and his first order of business is to warn his peers about how dangerous these products can really be.
Logan spoke out about how he nearly died from using the Juul brand e-liquid on Thursday, October 3rd.
“I thought that Juuling was safer than smoking regular cigarettes. I was wrong. Two weeks ago, I was admitted to my local hospital with what doctors thought was a severe case of dehydration, it turns out it was pneumonia,” the teen says in his public address.
As Logan soon found out, he was dealing with something far more severe than just regular pneumonia, though.
“It turned out to be far worse than that. My lungs kept filling up with fluids and became so severely inflamed that I could not breathe on my own. I was then sent to American Family Children’s Hospital where doctors gave me medicine and hooked me up to machines to help me breathe.”
Vaping is the act of inhaling nicotine or THC containing compounds through an electronically heated device.
Logan was vaping the Juul brand of nicotine pods, which have come under fire lately for marketing campaigns that appear to be geared toward teens. While there have always been concerns about the health effects of vaping products, a sudden string of deaths has people looking at it a lot more seriously.
According to the CDC, there have been 26 confirmed deaths from lung damage sustained by vaping just since August. The deaths occurred across 21 states. However, there have been 1,299 confirmed lung injury cases in all of the United States excluding Alaska only.
It’s easy to dismiss a term like “lung injury” until you listen to Logan explain just how life-threatening such an injury can be.
“I have suffered lifelong damage to my lungs. I have a long recovery ahead of me. This experience has changed my life tremendously,” Logan explains to all who are willing to listen.
Thankfully, Logan’s medical team has been able to treat him with steroids and slowly get him back on the road to recovery. Even so, people still need to realize how serious the issue is and what’s really at stake.
The CDC is issuing health warnings to teens about the severe dangers of vaping. They explain that the pods or cartridges can contain both unknown and unregulated substances.
The agency admits they aren’t sure of exactly what is causing the sudden and severe onset of chemical pneumonitis.
However, based on available data and that it doesn’t seem to be infectious, they believe it’s due to chemical exposure. Though, they haven’t yet singled out which chemical it is.
The Trump administration said last month that they were moving to ban the sale of all flavored pods and cartridges. They do plan to make an exception for tobacco flavored liquids. According to the September meeting in the Oval Office, the ban will be taking effect within the next month. This is in answer to growing demand from public health officials, legislators, and parents, to do something to halt these harmful practices.
In the meantime, Logan wants people to know that regardless of what laws are erected around vaping, the risk is most definitely NOT worth the reward.
“If you don’t smoke or vape now, please don’t start, but if you do, I urge you to stop and get some help. While quitting may seem really difficult, going through this is far worse,” he concludes.
To learn more about his story and the dangerous effects of vaping, watch the video below.
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