Vaping's Secret Ingredient

Scott LaFee on Jul 16, 2025

Just like regular smoking tobacco, electronic cigarettes or vapes rely on nicotine as a primary draw. But there's another addictive ingredient too, especially aimed at younger users.

Neotame is an artificial sweetener 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than traditional sugar. A survey found neotame is used in all of 11 popular disposable vape brands tested. Technically, selling these products to minors is illegal, but they're widely available at gas stations, convenience stores and online, where oversight may be minimal.

You can also find neotame in many other products, including ice cream, lip gloss and even sparkling water.

Body of Knowledge

The ankle is the most commonly injured joint in the human body, usually through sprains and ligament damage, followed by the knee.

Get Me That, Stat!

16,600: Number of preventable deaths per year that could occur under the Trump administration tax bill's cuts to the federal Medicaid program, according to Annals of Internal Medicine

Counts

10.9 million: Estimated number of Americans who would lose health insurance under the bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office

Stories for the Waiting Room

In 2015, surveys found that new doctors who attended the top 20 ranked medical schools had 52% lower odds of going on to practice in socioeconomically deprived areas compared to peers from lower-ranked schools.

Five years later, according to newly released data, the odds remain the same.

Doc Talk

Obdormition: The feeling of numbness in a limb when it "falls asleep," followed by paresthesia, the prickling or tingling sensation that follows when the nerves become active again

Phobia of the Week

Atephobia: Fear of ruins or ruin, whether decaying buildings or some other form of destruction (i.e., financial ruin)

Best Medicine

The projected market for erectile dysfunction drugs in the U.S. is nearly $5 billion by 2030. Competition is stiff.

Hypochondriac's Guide

Hanahaki disease isn't real, unless you live in the world of manga (Japanese comic books and graphic novels). The name combines the Japanese words for flower (hana) and vomiting (hakimasu). Manga characters and their fans who have the condition cough up flower petals or flowers due to unrequited love.

Observation

"I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either." -- American comedian Jack Benny (1894-1974)

Medical History

This week in 1867, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, becoming the first university-based dental school in the U.S.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2001, the Ig Nobel Prize in medicine went to Peter Barss of McGill University in Canada for his 1984 survey of injuries due to falling coconuts in Papua New Guinea. (Canada has no native palm species.)

Over a four-year span, Barss found that 2.5% of trauma admissions at the Provincial Hospital in Alotau, Papua New Guinea, were due to being struck by a falling coconut. Barss described four cases of head injuries; in two of these, the person died instantly.

Med School

Q: What are the largest and smallest human body organs?

A: The largest is skin, with an average surface area of 16 to 22 square feet (roughly two phone booths, if you remember those) and a weight of 7.5 to 22 pounds or approximately 15% of the body's total weight.

The largest internal organ is the liver, roughly the size of a football and weighing 3 to 3.5 pounds. The brain comes in second at 3 pounds and the size of two clenched fists.

The smallest organ is the pineal gland, located in the back of the brain. It produces melatonin, the hormone that modulates sleep patterns, and is about the size of a grain of rice.

Curtain Calls

In 1994, Robert Puelo, 32, entered a 7-Eleven convenience store and began shouting and cursing. When staff threatened to call the police, Puelo grabbed a hot dog, crammed it into his mouth and ran out the door without paying.

Responding police officers found Puelo nearby, choking to death on the unchewed 6-inch wiener.

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To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.