For decades, parents and doctors have been worried about teens and kids who smoke. There was a worry about smoking a few years ago, and now nicotine pouches are all the rage.
A doctor in Maine says he talks to kids as young as ten about how smoking is bad for them.
A family doctor at Maine Health named Dr. Brendan Prast said, “They called it smoker’s cough, and hearing that in someone under the age of 20 is terrible.”
Prast is also the President of the Board for the American Heart Association’s Maine chapter. He says that nicotine gets into your brain very quickly when you smoke or vape, and it has different effects on kids and adults.
He said, “The biggest difference between kids and teens is that their brains are still developing.” “Nicotine really changes your mood, your ability to pay attention, and even your ability to learn.”
No matter what age, nicotine raises your energy right away.
“Heart rate goes up right away, breathing rate goes up, heart rate goes up, blood pressure goes up,” he said. “Lung irritation, trouble breathing, coughing more, and less ability to handle exercise.”
We also know it’s addicting. Dr. Prast says that kids will quit if a person in their life does the same thing or just keeps encouraging them. Talk to your kids about it, he says.
Dr. Prast told them, “The more you do that, one of those will stick.”
You should also talk to your family doctor about it because they can help.
Because “do you smoke cigarettes?” is the question most often asked at work, many people may not know how to bring up vaping. No? Good. He said, “We might go on.”
For everyone else, he also says that vapes are still pretty new and aren’t always “healthier” than regular smokes. He says that they have a lot of heavy metals and chemicals in them.
Dr. Prast said, “That’s not normal air. Lungs are made to breathe in normal air, not what’s ever in vapes.”
To help you stop, the American Heart Association has tools for adults, teens, and children.
It’s pretty quick for your blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate to change after you quit smoking, he said.