Why Vaping is a Healthier Choice？

In recent years, vaping has emerged as a popular alternative to smoking. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, vaping exposes users to significantly fewer toxic substances compared to traditional cigarettes. Public Health England has also reported that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking. Experts argue that the absence of combustion in vaping reduces the intake of carcinogens and tar, which are major contributors to smoking-related diseases.

Moreover, a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that switching to vaping can lead to substantial health improvements for smokers. Vaping products typically contain fewer harmful chemicals, and the levels of toxicants are much lower than those found in cigarette smoke. This makes vaping a viable harm reduction strategy for those looking to quit smoking.

While vaping is not entirely risk-free, the consensus among health professionals is that it is a much safer alternative to smoking. Continued research and regulation will further enhance the safety and efficacy of vaping products, making them an essential tool in the fight against tobacco-related illnesses.

Vapes less harmful than cigarettes—UK group

A leading UK organisation advocating for tobacco harm reduction has presented scientific evidence that vaping is far less harmful than smoking.

“The evidence suggests that while vaping is not completely risk-free, it is far less harmful than smoking – which kills around 80,000 people a year in the UK alone,” the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said in a statement.

The UKVIA report came after the industry and vape users were not invited to speak during part of the committee stage of the Tobacco and Vaping Bill held by the UK Parliament to address proposed amendments.

According to UKVIA, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) maintains that “vaping is at least 95% less harmful than cigarettes”.

The report says the risks of vaping are “only a fraction of the risks of smoking” and that “switching completely from smoking to vaping can bring greater health benefits than continuing to smoke”.

The report also quotes England’s chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty, who acknowledged that vaping is “significantly safer” than smoking and said that switching to vaping is a “positive health move”.

The report adds that research conducted by Brunel University in London concluded that if just half of adult smokers in England switched to vaping, the NHS could save “more than £500 million a year”.

In 2019, an investigation into reports of a vaping-related lung illness outbreak in the US found that the cases were not caused by the use of legal nicotine vaping products, but by contaminated illegal products containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the ingredient in cannabis that causes the psychoactive effects.

Alice Davies, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, previously said: “News headlines can be misleading as these cases were caused by contaminants in illegal products and were not related to regular nicotine vaping. There has been no similar outbreak in the UK and the chemicals of concern are banned in the UK.”

According to the England OHID Nicotine vaping: Evidence update, “lessons have been learned from the mislabelled US EVALI (vaping or vaping-associated lung injury) outbreak” and that “communication about EVALI should clearly separate these illegal substances from nicotine vaping”. ”

Cancer Research UK confirmed that “there have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung in people who use vapes” and that vaping does not cause lung damage.

UKVIA cited the latest data from Action on Smoking and Health, a public health charity set up by the Royal College of Physicians, which showed that “nearly 4.5 million adults in the UK have used vapes to reduce or quit smoking completely”.

The NHS maintains that vaping is “one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking”, the report said, while the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities reported that vaping products “remain the most common aid people use to quit smoking”.