Teen vaper’s lungs ‘like a 70-year-old’s after using e-cigarettes for 18 months’

Doctors say a teen narrowly avoided death and has been left with the lungs of a 70-year-old after smoking e-cigarettes, reports say.

Adam Hergenreder, 18, from Illinois, US, used vaping products for 18 months before being struck down with a mystery lung illness.

Adam, who was a varsity wrestler before the ordeal, now struggles to breathe and fears he may never be able to wrestle again.

He told CNN: “It was scary to think about that – that little device did that to my lungs.”

“I was a varsity wrestler before this. And I might not ever be able to wrestle [again] because that’s a very physical sport and my lungs might not be able to hold that exertion. It’s sad.”

The student vaped THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and nicotine products before he was hospitalized last week.

Adam, whose favourite vape flavour was mango, thought the e-cigarettes were safe, CNN reports.

The youngster vaped the equivalent of around a pack of cigarettes every day.

Adam’s mum Polly Hergenreder said: “The doctors did tell us that if we did not bring Adam in when we brought him in, his lungs would have collapsed and he would have died.”

U.S. public health officials are currently investigating 450 cases of vaping-related lung illness across 33 states.

Six people have died from the mysterious illness, with doctors urging users to stop using e-cigarettes immediately.

Many of the reported illnesses involved vaping products, including cannabis products, containing vitamin E acetate, an oil derived from vitamin E that can be dangerous if inhaled.

Between 2015 and 2018 the number of over-16s vaping in the UK shot up from 3.7% of the population in 2015 to 6.3% in 2018, according to Office for National Statistic figures.