Vaping

E-cigarettes seem to be everywhere and they’re rarely out of the news.

There are plenty of scare stories about e-cigarettes so are they really a dangerous trend, or a useful way to quit smoking?

Electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that mimic the action of smoking, offering nicotine (in most cases), but without the toxic effect of tobacco smoke. They’ve been in the UK since 2007 and are growing in popularity.

More people may be using them, but e-cigarettes are not harm-free.

The BHF would not advise non-smokers to start vaping

More research is needed on the long-term impact of vaping on your heart and blood vessels, and on how people can most effectively use e-cigarettes to quit.

A study from the University of Dundee, published in November 2019 and funded by the British Heart Foundation, suggests that vaping may be less harmful to your blood vessels than smoking cigarettes. Within just one month of switching tobacco for electronic cigarettes, measures of blood vessel health, including blood pressure and stiffness of their arteries, had started to improve. The study looked at 114 people who had smoked at least 15 cigarettes a day for at least two years. This is a relatively small number of people, and the study does not prove that vaping is completely safe.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“This study suggests that vaping may be less harmful to your blood vessels than smoking cigarettes. Within just one month of ditching tobacco for electronic cigarettes, people’s blood vessel health had started to recover.

“Just because e-cigarettes may be less harmful than tobacco doesn’t mean they are completely safe. We know they contain significantly fewer of the harmful chemicals, which can cause diseases related to smoking, but we still don’t know the long-term impact on the heart and circulation, or other aspects of health. E-cigarettes and vaping should never be taken up by people who don’t already smoke, but could be a useful tool to help people to stop smoking completely.”

“Stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health. If you’re looking to quit smoking, don’t go it alone.  There is a range of free support available, including local stop smoking services, which will help you to find the best way of quitting and boost your chances of success.”

Stopping smoking and vaping

Smoking-related diseases account for around 100,000 deaths each year in the UK. Most of these deaths arise from one of three diseases: lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and coronary heart disease.

According to a 2019 survey, more than 3.6 million adults in Great Britain use e-cigarettes – 7.1 per cent of the adult population. Of these users, 54 per cent are ex-smokers, suggesting they are helping people to stop smoking.

Marketing and the law around vaping

Experts agree that we need longer-term data on the effects of using e-cigarettes, particularly in regard to cardiovascular disease. But since e-cigarettes have only been on sale in the UK since 2007, long-term studies don’t yet exist. So e-cigarettes must be responsibly marketed and regulated to ensure appropriate use.

Since May 2017, all e-cigarettes and e-liquids have had to be notified to The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency before they can be sold. There are also requirements around labelling and warnings. Certain ingredients including colourings, caffeine and taurine are banned, and the nicotine strength of e-liquids is restricted.

 There are many different types of vapes and some of them smell quite sweet which could be an attraction for many younger people.

I would suggest doing some research of your own before starting to vape.

I hope this helps and please don’t hesitate to contact me for any further information.