To address the national vaping epidemic, Banner Health and the American Lung Association are bringing awareness and education to Northern Colorado on the rising use of vaping and e-cigarettes among Colorado teens.
On Feb. 14, 2019, both groups will host a presentation and interactive discussion led by acclaimed vaping and e-
cigarette researcher, Stan Glantz, PhD. The event will be held at the McKee Wellness Center, 2000 N. Boise
Ave., Loveland, CO 80538, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. This free event is open to parents, students, educators, physicians
and the general community. Seating is limited. For more information and to RSVP call 1-800-230-CARE.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), e-cigarettes are the most commonly used
tobacco product among America’s youth. Based on a survey done by the Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment in 2018, teenagers in Colorado are vaping at twice the national average rate.
“This has become a public health issue,” Geri Ann Gunderson said, senior manager of respiratory care at North
Colorado Medical Center. “We have seen kids with popcorn lung and other complications associated with vaping
that should be happening to 60 and 70-year-olds, not young kids. The cognitive development of teens is affected
as well, and just like in adults, the risk of cardiovascular disease from the increased dosing of nicotine damages
their heart, not just their lungs.”
In addition to the latest research, the presentation will address vaping trends and a number of misconceptions
held by teens. For example, many teens think they are inhaling water vapor when in fact they are inhaling an
aerosol filled with chemicals, including nicotine.
“There is a lot of mis-education around vaping and e-cigarettes, we want to make sure parents have the right
information to help students,” Gunderson said. “Our goal is to keep people out of hospitals. We need to give
people the education they need to live a healthier life.”
Dr. Glantz is Director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Co-Leader of the Helen
Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center for Tobacco Program and a member of the Cardiovascular Research
Institute and Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. He is the author or coauthor of numerous
publications related to secondhand smoke and tobacco control, as well as many papers on cardiovascular
function. He is the author of five books and nearly 400 scientific papers. Among them are Tobacco: Biology and
Politics for high school students and The Uninvited Guest, a story about secondhand smoke, for second graders.
Banner Health is Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The
system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine,
academic and employed physician groups, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of
other services; including Banner Urgent Care, family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a
nursing registry. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming.
For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.
McKee Medical Center, opened in 1976, is a fully accredited, private nonprofit facility in Loveland, Colorado.
McKee is owned by Banner Health, a nonprofit healthcare system with 28 hospitals in six states. It offers
emergency care, cancer care, heart care, orthopedics, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, rehabilitation, intensive
care, lab and medical imaging. For more information, please visit www.BannerHealth.com/McKee.
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