Vaping Lung Model

1 collaborator

WHAT IS IT?

This model simulates the impact of vaping frequency and duration on lung health over time. The lungs are represented by patches that change color from pink (healthy) to shades of gray (damaged) to black (destroyed) as vaping causes increasing lung damage.

HOW IT WORKS

Lung patches vary in vulnerability to damage.

The user sets three sliders: starting-age, vaping-frequency (times per day), and years-vaping.

Each tick represents one month. If the user is in the vaping period, patches take damage based on frequency and vulnerability.

Damage accumulates gradually, and patches transition visually through stages.

Monitors show the percentage of the lung that is healthy, damaged, or destroyed.

HOW TO USE IT

Adjust sliders for starting age, frequency, and duration.

Click Setup to initialize.

Click Go to simulate month‑by‑month.

Observe patch colors change and monitors update.

THINGS TO NOTICE

Damage accumulates faster with higher vaping frequency and longer vaping duration.

Lung patches transition through color stages, illustrating progressive damage.

Vulnerability varies between patches, representing biological variability.

Even after vaping stops, damaged patches remain damaged, representing ongoing harm.

THINGS TO TRY

Compare the lung damage starting vaping at different ages.

Observe how increasing vaping frequency impacts damage progression.

Test short vs. long vaping durations.

Experiment with lower frequencies or shorter durations to see how lung health is preserved.

Observe how the percent healthy, damaged, and destroyed lung changes over time.

EXTENDING THE MODEL

Add a recovery option: Implement a mechanism to allow lung patches to heal partially or fully after vaping stops, simulating lung regeneration over time.

Show full lifespan: Add an option to simulate the whole lifespan with vaping starting at the chosen age, allowing users to see lung health before, during, and after vaping.

NETLOGO FEATURES

Patches: Represent individual lung tissue units with their own state.

Globals: Track overall simulation parameters such as age in months.

Sliders: Control starting age, vaping frequency, and years vaping.

Monitors: Display percentage of healthy, damaged, and destroyed lung tissue.

Conditional patch coloring: Visualize damage progression using colors.

Randomness: Add variability to lung patch vulnerability and damage increments.

RELATED MODELS

Virus on a Network: Demonstrates spread and recovery in networks, which can be analogous to lung tissue health and damage progression.

Forest Fire: Models gradual damage and recovery, similar to lung tissue damage and healing.

Biological Growth Models: Useful for understanding how populations or tissues grow and decline over time.

CREDITS AND REFERENCES

This model was developed in partnership with ChatGPT (OpenAI) for coding assistance and writing this documentation. This model has not been manually checked against the sources for scientific accuracy.

Scientific references supporting the model: Gotts, J. E., Jordt, S. E., McConnell, R., & Tarran, R. (2019). What are the respiratory effects of e-cigarettes? BMJ, 366, l5275. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l5275

Layden, J. E., Ghinai, I., Pray, I., Kimball, A., Layer, M., Tenforde, M., ... & McEvoy, C. T. (2020). Pulmonary illness related to e-cigarette use in Illinois and Wisconsin — final report. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(10), 903-916. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1911614

Keith, R., & Bhatnagar, A. (2021). Cardiorespiratory and Immunologic Effects of Electronic Cigarettes. Current addiction reports, 8(2), 336–346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-021-00359-7

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24952

Comments and Questions

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Click to Run Model

globals [ age-in-months ]

patches-own [
  is-lung?        ;; true if part of the lung
  damage          ;; 0 = healthy, 1 = fully damaged
  vulnerability   ;; how easily this patch gets damaged
]

to setup
  clear-all
  draw-lungs
  ask patches with [is-lung?] [
    set damage 0
    set vulnerability random-float 1.0  ;; between 0 (resilient) and 1 (very vulnerable)
    set pcolor pink
  ]

  ;; Initialize age-in-months to starting-age slider (in years) converted to months
  set age-in-months (starting-age * 12)

  reset-ticks
end 

to draw-lungs
  ask patches [
    set is-lung? false
    set pcolor white  ;; background

    let x pxcor
    let y pycor

    ;; Left lung
    if ((x + 8) ^ 2 / 50 + (y + 2) ^ 2 / 90 < 1.0 and x < 0) [
      set is-lung? true
      set pcolor pink
    ]

    ;; Right lung
    if ((x - 8) ^ 2 / 50 + (y + 2) ^ 2 / 90 < 1.0 and x > 0) [
      set is-lung? true
      set pcolor pink
    ]
  ]
end 

to go
 set age-in-months age-in-months + 1
 let vaping-start-months starting-age * 12
 let vaping-end-months (starting-age + years-vaping) * 12
 let vaping? (age-in-months >= vaping-start-months) and (age-in-months < vaping-end-months)

 ;; Increase damage based on vaping frequency during vaping period
 ask patches with [is-lung?] [
   if damage < 1 and vaping? and (random-float 1.0 < 0.003 * (1 + vulnerability)) [
     let damage-increment vaping-frequency * 0.049 * (1 + random-float 0.1)
     set damage damage + damage-increment
     if damage > 1 [ set damage 1 ]
   ]

   ;; Update color based on damage level
   update-color
 ]
tick
wait 0.1 ;;  pauses for one tenth of a second before next tick
end 

to update-color
  ask patches with [is-lung?] [
    if damage = 0 [
      set pcolor pink
    ]
    if damage > 0 and damage < 1 [
      if damage < 0.1 [ set pcolor gray + 3 ]
      if damage >= 0.1 and damage < 0.2 [ set pcolor gray + 2 ]
      if damage >= 0.2 and damage < 0.3 [ set pcolor gray + 1 ]
      if damage >= 0.3 and damage < 0.4 [ set pcolor gray ]
      if damage >= 0.4 and damage < 0.6 [ set pcolor gray - 1 ]
      if damage >= 0.6 and damage < 0.8 [ set pcolor gray - 2 ]
      if damage >= 0.8 and damage < 1 [ set pcolor gray - 3 ]
    ]
    if damage >= 1 [
      set damage 1
      set pcolor black
    ]
  ]
end 

to-report percent-healthy-lung
  let healthy count patches with [is-lung? and damage = 0]
  let total count patches with [is-lung?]
  report (100 * healthy / total)
end 

to-report percent-damaged
  let damaged count patches with [is-lung? and damage > 0 and damage < 1]
  let total count patches with [is-lung?]
  report (100 * damaged / total)
end 

to-report percent-destroyed
  let destroyed count patches with [is-lung? and damage >= 1]
  let total count patches with [is-lung?]
  report (100 * destroyed / total)
end

There is only one version of this model, created about 8 hours ago by Risa Paley-Zimble.

Attached files

File	Type	Description	Last updated
Vaping Lung Model.png	preview	Preview for 'Vaping Lung Model'	about 8 hours ago, by Risa Paley-Zimble	Download

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