As we are in the middle of a world wide pandemic, people are desperately searching for ways to keep their loved ones safe. But while people continue to isolate themselves, wear masks and wash their hands, they may have overlooked the importance of having clean and healthy lungs. Not vaping is something that may seem so simple, and yet is a key factor in fighting off the COVID-19 infection. Scientists are currently looking for clues that may link e-cigarette use to COVID-19. TIME magazine looked at preliminary data that showed a high number of U.S. young adults hospitalized due to COVID-19. This is the same population known for using e-cigarettes in America. However, this is still just an observation and not concrete evidence. Scientific American also mentioned a study from China that found men were more likely than women to be hospitalized from COVID-19. It was hypothesized that this slight increase of hospitalization of men could be because more men than women smoke in China. The problem with all these studies and that researchers are facing is that there is not a lot of data on the impacts of both vaping and COVID-19 since both are relatively new areas of study. But even though a lot is still unknown about COVID-19 and vaping, we can look at how COVID-19 infects the lungs to get a better understanding of how this virus may impact e-cigarette users.
The COVID-19 virus starts its attack by latching onto receptors of healthy cells in our body. ACE2 is a type of receptor that COVID-19 enters through in particular. These receptors are abundant in the cells of our lungs. This makes our lungs most at risk for infection. Once the virus enters our lungs, it begins to replicate and take over the healthy cells. Because there are more ACE2 receptors in our lower airway, the virus is able to go deeper in our respiratory track than the common cold. The virus causes our lungs to become inflamed, which makes it harder to breathe. The virus also increases our risk for developing an pneumonia since the little air sacs called alveoli are likely to get inflamed. It’s important to realize that even when our lungs are healthy, we may still develop an pneumonia. Now if someone’s lungs are not as healthy as they could be, they become even more at risk for developing an pneumonia. Healthy lungs are the key to being able to fight of the infection in the lungs caused by the COVID-19 virus. Now let’s look at why vaping causes damage to our lungs.
Many people do not realize the damage vaping does to our lungs. When you vape, you inhale many harmful chemicals such as heavy metals tin and lead. You also inhale many harmful toxins such as dactyl, which is used for flavoring and linked to lung disease. Vaping also puts you at risk for developing EVALI, which stands for electronic-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury. EVALI can cause pneumonia and kill otherwise healthy teenagers and young adults without many warning signs. The damage vaping does to a person’s lungs makes it harder for their lungs to fight off infection. Scientists are predicting that there is going to be a huge link between COVID-19 deaths and vaping users. This is why it is extremely important to protect yourself and put down the vape!
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