‘IGNORE SCARE STORIES – E-CIGS ARE SAFE!’

People worry that vaping is as bad as smoking, not helped by misleading headlines. Dr C wants to stub out the nonsense

Public Health P England recently released a review of everything we know about e-cigs. It confirms they are safe, and help at least 20,000 people quit cigarettes each year.

DON’T FEAR NICOTINE

But still thousands of people think vaping is as harmful as smoking, and 90 per cent believe nicotine does the damage. However, it’s not nicotine, but the thousands of chemicals and toxins in the smoke that harm health – 70 of the 7,000 chemicals are directly linked to cancer. People become dependent on nicotine, but dependence, unlike addiction, doesn’t cause harm. You can be “dependent” on nicotine for life without getting ill, so you don’t have to “quit” e-cigarettes.

They work because they mimic smoking so well. They deliver nicotine within 20 seconds and, crucially, imitate the same ritual of smoking, which patches and gum can’t.

People worry that e-cigs are a route into smoking for young people, but youth smoking rates keep declining, and regular e-cig use is almost entirely confined to those who have smoked in the past. Also, when kids are asked, “Have you ever smoked?” and, “Have you ever vaped?”, many say yes to both, so scientists say vaping is a gateway to smoking. However, they may have actually just had a puff of a cigarette thanks to peer pressure, and a quick go on their dad’s e-cig because he left it lying around. Stats can be manipulated!

GIVE THEM A TRY

We think we’ve cracked it, but 15.8 per cent of UK adults still smoke and 40 per cent of smokers haven’t tried e-cigs. I wish they would, because every 60 seconds someone is admitted to hospital due to smoking, and nearly 80,000 people in England die every year from the effects.

Over the past couple of weeks, headlines have linked vaping to cancer, but it was a mouse study that found vaping changed DNA. None of the mice got cancer, and our DNA is being damaged all the time – but it repairs itself. Damaged DNA doesn’t equal cancer. Also, the poor mice were exposed to high levels of vapour, and our DNA is very different to mouse DNA.

QUESTION THE HYPE

Another story shouted about “dangerous vape flavours” that cause inflammation. Lots of things cause inflammation – from alcohol to burnt toast! The flavours may carry a tiny risk, but nowhere near that associated with smoking, which is the biggest preventable cause of death there is. Stub it out.