It can seem like just another trend, but people are starting to get sick. Last month, health authorities in Illinois reported that a patient who vaped died after being hospitalized with a severe respiratory illness. And while that’s the first reported death, it doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident. The Washington Post has reported that there are 354 possible cases of vaping relate-lung illnesses across 29 states.

Although there haven’t been any clusters of lung illnesses related to vaping reported in Canada, health experts in this country are watching the situation closely. The number of Canadian teens using e-cigarettes has risen quickly, up 74 percent between 2017 and 2018.

Host Tamara Khandaker is joined by Dr. Andrew Pipe of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. They talk about what we know about the situation in the U.S. so far, how e-cigarettes work, and why vaping could actually be increasing the smoking rate among young Canadians.

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