How Vaping Can Affect Your Lungs

Over time, as e-cigarette use continues, experts will gain a better understanding of how LoneStar Vape vaping affects the lungs. What we do know right now is that several lung diseases are associated with vaping:

Vaping and Popcorn Lung
“Popcorn lung” is another name for bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), a rare condition that results from damage of the lungs’ small airways. BO was originally discovered when popcorn factory workers started getting sick. The culprit was diacetyl, a food additive used to simulate butter flavor in microwave popcorn.

Diacetyl is frequently added to flavored e-liquid to enhance the taste. Inhaling diacetyl causes inflammation and may lead to permanent scarring in the smallest branches of the airways — popcorn lung — which makes breathing difficult. Popcorn lung has no lasting treatment. There are, however, treatments that manage BO symptoms, such as:

Coughing
Wheezing
Chest pain
Shortness of breath
Vaping-Related Lipoid Pneumonia
Unlike the classic pneumonia caused by infection, lipoid pneumonia develops when fatty acids (the building blocks of fat) enter the lungs. Vaping-related lipoid pneumonia is the result of inhaling oily substances found in e-liquid, which sparks an inflammatory response in the lungs. Symptoms of lipoid pneumonia include:

Chronic cough
Shortness of breath
Coughing up blood or blood-tinged mucus
“There’s isn’t a good treatment for lipoid pneumonia, other than supportive care, while the lungs heal on their own,” says Broderick. “The single-most important thing you can do is identify what is causing it — in this case vaping — and eliminate it.”