E-cigarettes Rumours About Their Dangers Are Preventing Smokers From Quitting Smoking

The evidence so far shows that vaping is much less harmful than smoking

We’ve blogged about some of the research before. But the report highlights a recent study that tried to calculate the difference in cancer risk for smoking and vaping for the first time. 

Scientists analyzed the chemicals released from tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes in  Australia and estimated that the lifetime cancer risk for e-cigarette use could be 100 times lower than that of smoking.

But determining risk is a tricky thing to do. It’s hard to get accurate figures without long-term studies involving people and so this should be considered an estimate at best.

Public perception of e-cigarettes is worsening

Despite the research telling us that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, the number of people using them in Great Britain appears to have stalled at just under 3 million. The fact more smokers haven’t switched could in part be down to the public perception of their safety.

According to the report, more and more people are incorrectly identifying e-cigarettes as being as harmful as tobacco cigarettes. And in some cases, they’re wrongly badged as more harmful. From 2013 to 2017, nearly four times as many adults thought that e-cigarettes were as harmful, or more harmful, than smoking (7% in 2013 to 26% in 2017).

Some previous reports call for the misperceptions around e-liquid Australia being vaped to be addressed.

The Director for Health Improvement, Professor John Newton, said that It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette are being put off due to false fears about their safety.

 

E-cigarettes are helping people to stop smoking

The first half of 2017 saw the highest success rates for quitting smoking in England. While we can’t say this is down to e-cigarettes alone, they’re likely to have played a role.

According to the report, e-cigarettes may contribute to thousands of smokers quitting each year. It’s estimated that there were 18,000 more long-term ex-smokers in England in 2015 alone thanks to e-cigarettes.

And stats show that when Stop Smoking Services provide behavioral support for people choosing to use an e-cigarette, the quit rates are comparable to using licensed medications.

The benefits of e-cigarettes as a stop-smoking aid were backed up by figures showing, for the first time ever, most vapers have stopped smoking entirely. This is a big change from a few years ago when most vapers also smoked cigarettes.

 

What Does Research Say?

Research shows nicotine vapor liquids can help people quit smoking and may be more effective than nicotine-replacement therapy. In studies testing e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking, there was no evidence that people using e-cigarettes were more likely to experience serious health issues. 

Also, e-cigarettes are thought to pose fewer risks to bystanders while secondhand smoke from cigarettes kills around 1.2 million people a year.

It’s also worth noting that e-cigarettes typically only contain nicotine, not tobacco, which is found in cigarettes. Although nicotine is an addictive substance, tobacco smoke contains carbon monoxide, tar, and toxic chemicals including benzene, arsenic, and formaldehyde. +

These substances are known to cause cancer and other heart and lung diseases. The harm from cigarettes largely comes from burning tobacco, not from nicotine. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine without burning anything.

E-cigarettes haven’t been around for long, so they’re very unlikely to be completely harmless, and there is still uncertainty about their longer-term effects.

The liquid and vapor used in e-cigarettes sold by vapor shops online contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at lower levels. In addition, there are concerns about the effect of nicotine on adolescent brain development. 

 

To Wrap Up

Although, as a recent paper pointed out, studies showing that nicotine causes changes in the brain have only been conducted on animals. The authors argue it is still unclear whether the same effect will be seen in humans. 

There are also worries that e-cigarettes from even the most genuine Sydney vapor shop could be another pathway to nicotine addiction especially if people who would never have started smoking begin vaping.

 

When we communicate about the risks of e-cigarettes, we need to be clear about which e-cigarettes, who might be at risk, and who might benefit. The people who stand to benefit the most from vaping, namely people who smoke, have a right to be receiving accurate, evidence-based information, too.