ARTA Health
Gary Sawatzky | Chief Operating Offi cer, ARTA
Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease and Vaping
There was a time when certain brands of cigarettes
were marketed as being doctor-endorsed, which
made many people take up smoking, leading to
health complications such as chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD).
COPD is a long-term lung disease that refers to chronic
bronchitis and emphysema. A number of things can
cause COPD, including:
• Cigarette smoke: This is by far the most common
reason people get COPD
• Secondhand smoke: Even if you aren’t a
smoker, you can get COPD from living with one
• Pollution and fumes: You can get COPD from
air pollution, breathing in chemical fumes, dust, or
toxic substances
• Your genes: In rare cases, people with COPD
have defective DNA
• Asthma: If asthma is not treated, lung damage can
lead to COPD over time
Symptoms of COPD may include a persistent cough
with mucus, shortness of breath (especially when you’re
physically active), wheezing, and tightness in your chest.
Discuss any of these symptoms with your doctor.
Since there is no cure for COPD, the goal of treatment
is to ease your symptoms, slow down its progress, treat
any complications, and improve your overall quality of
life. The best and most important thing you can do to
treat COPD is to quit smoking. Other treatments include
bronchodilators to open up your airways, corticosteroids
to reduce airway infl ammation, antibiotics to fi ght
bacterial infections, pulmonary rehabilitation (exercise
and counseling to help you stay as healthy and active as
possible), and oxygen therapy. Severe cases of COPD may
require surgery to remove diseased lung tissue or a lung
transplant.
Many years have passed since doctors were endorsing
cigarettes, and people recognize that smoking cigarettes
is bad for one’s health, resulting in a steady decline in the
number of smokers over the past two decades. However,
a new emerging technology is causing new health issues
related to the lungs: vaping.
If you’re unfamiliar, vaping is inhaling the vapourized
liquid produced by an e-cigarette, vape pen, or personal
vaporizer. These devices heat a liquid, usually containing
nicotine (or in some cases cannabis oil), in order to
inhale the vapour into the lungs. The liquid often
contains other ingredients that are used to dissolve the
nicotine or cannabis oil so that they may be vapourized,
such as propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. While
these ingredients are approved food additives, they
are untested and may be harmful when inhaled into
the lungs.
New chemicals are created when
the liquid is heated, such as
formaldehyde, which is a known
eye, nose, and throat irritant.
Vaping has been marketed
by manufacturers as a healthier
alternative to cigarettes, making
them popular with smokers who
are trying to stop smoking, and to
teenagers who are aware of the dangers
of smoking and believe that vaping is
relatively harmless. However, there
has been no testing to prove how
healthy or unhealthy vaping actually is.
However, while even Health Canada
has agreed that vaping is relatively healthier
than smoking cigarettes (at least in the
short term), vaping has recently been tied to a
signifi cant number of illnesses and even a handful
of deaths. Life insurers have also started charging
higher premiums for people who vape, just as they
do for people who smoke cigarettes.
It is important to research the potential dangers
of vaping, especially given the advantages
compared to smoking. Long-term health eff ects
of vaping will become better known over time,
and ARTA members should remember that new
technologies are not always what they seem
when it comes to their health. ●
news&views WINTER 2019 | 55