2023-11-29 05:51:40
The more frequently Quebec adolescents vape nicotine, the less well they feel. When compared to abstainers, daily users are two to three times more likely to report depression, anxiety, or poor mental or physical health.
This is demonstrated by unprecedented research, made public on Tuesday, during the annual Public Health Days, which bring together nearly a thousand researchers, caregivers and educators in Quebec.
“We do not yet know if a young person vapes because they are depressed or the opposite,” said the Dre Audrey Payette, resident doctor in pediatrics and co-author of this study, which was carried out by Laval University and the Regional Public Health Department of Capitale-Nationale.
To resolve the question, the young doctor will continue to follow, year after year, the students of the 99 secondary schools which participate in the COMPASS Survey. In 2023, there will be nearly 50,000, including 37% who are familiar with electronic cigarettes.
“We will be able to check what impact the increase or decrease in vaping will have on their health indicators,” predicts the Dr Richard Bélanger, co-author of the study and professor of pediatrics at Laval University.
Multiple case studies already describe pneumonia, bronchitis, pneumothorax and asthma exacerbations associated with vaping.
The Dr Richard Bélanger co-author of the study and professor of pediatrics at Laval University
“The heating process produces derivatives [potentiellement nocifs]. Our lungs and our mouth are not made for that,” adds the doctor.
Waking up at night to vape
For now, the Dr Bélanger is above all concerned about the “very high risk of dependence”: “This is the most significant impact of vaping [sur le plan] of health. »
Breaking the grip of electronic cigarettes is difficult for adolescents, shows another new study unveiled Tuesday.
Nearly half of those introduced to vaping said they tried to quit this year. Their addiction, fear of disrupting their mood or fear of failure represented their three biggest obstacles.
In a video broadcast between the expert discussions, half a dozen high school students spoke candidly.
Being addicted to vaping has really affected my sleep. I would take one puff before going to sleep, and I would wake up during the night because I needed to take more puffs…
A teenage girl
Another declared: “Vaping for young people is a nightmare! It’s always in our thoughts. We’re in class, a negative thought comes up, we say to ourselves: I’m going to go take a quick wash in the toilet or we do it in class. It goes that far…”
To help them, schools and organizations are setting up support programs. A participant in the workshops reported how much young people need it: “On the ground, their dependence is so great, it takes up so much space in their lives, that they feel trapped. They come to see the speakers; they want to get out of it. »
A new mobile application called Libair was launched in October to provide day-to-day support to adolescents who want to free themselves from nicotine. Colors, language, functionalities, conversation bubbles… The Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health, which designed this tool, consulted young people so that it resembled them and was fun.
Adolescents urgently need instruments to stop vaping, because many do not know how to go about it, notes pediatrician Richard Bélanger. “I see young people who consume the equivalent of two to four packs of cigarettes per day in nicotine elements. Just making them do this calculation is an intervention. »
Why do girls vape so much?
This year, 20% of girls surveyed in the COMPASS Survey reported having vaped in the previous 30 days. Compared to 13% of boys. Why do they vape? “Older people take it at school and it’s cool,” replied one of the teenage girls featured in the video presented Tuesday at the Annual Public Health Days. [Tu te dis] : “She is absolutely beautiful and she vapes. She has a beautiful style, and she vapes. She’s funny, and she vapes. Then me too. » » Another wanted to be part of a new group. “When vaping arrived in [cet] entourage, I [dit] : “I’m going to have to be a bit like everyone else, that’s how I’m going to include myself. » I would go outside and have friends I would smoke with. »
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