'False fears' about vaping stopping smokers using e-cigs: UK report

By Kate Kelland

 

FILE PHOTO: A man smokes an e-cigarette in the queue to Canary Wharf tube station in London, Britain, November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - More than half of UK smokers now wrongly believe that nicotine-containing "vapes" or e-cigarettes are as dangerous as tobacco cigarettes and these "false fears" are preventing smokers from switching, public health experts said on Wednesday.

 

In a report commissioned by the UK health agency Public Health England (PHE), scientists at King's College London said the mistaken belief that e-cigarettes are more harmful than smoking had gained ground rapidly following thousands of reported cases of lung injury in the United States in late 2019.

 

But the belief is "out of line" with expert reviews from Britain and the United States concluding that using regulated nicotine vaping products is far less harmful than smoking, they said.

 

The report, the sixth by PHE on the issue of e-cigarettes, is likely to deepen divisions in opinion about the potential risks of the products.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month it had recorded more than 2,800 cases of lung injury linked to vaping.

 

"It is concerning to see how much the U.S. lung disease outbreak has affected smokers' views on e-cigarettes here in the UK," said John Newton, director of health improvement at PHE.

 

"Safety fears may well be deterring many smokers from switching, leaving them on a path to years of ill health and an early death due to their smoking," he said.

 

Health authorities in the United States have said that vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent added to cannabis vaping products, is the likely primary cause of the U.S. outbreak.

 

The substance is banned from UK-regulated nicotine vapes and e-cigarettes.

 

The PHE report reiterated the agency's view that "e-cigarettes are much less harmful than tobacco but are not completely safe".

 

"They contain significantly less harmful chemicals which cause diseases related to smoking but the long-term impact of using e-cigarettes will remain unknown for some time," PHE said in a summary of the report.

 

It added that any British move to ban the use of flavors in regulated vaping products, as the U.S. and other countries have done, would deter smokers from switching and would "ultimately cost lives".

 

The U.S. government has proposed a sweeping ban on all e-cigarette and vaping flavours that are seen as attracting young users to the products.

 

(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-04

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

The vaping industry apparently has purchased some promotional space under the guise of an "information" article.   If "health experts" have doubts or concerns, why are they not identified? I cannot identify one reputable public health official who would advocate  on behalf of vaping.  On the contrary, since 2013,  the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has directly associated vaping with 200 confirmed health injuries. These include respiratory distress, pneumonia and heart disease disorders.  The USA has recorded 12 deaths directly due to vaping. Lung injuries  as July 2019 were 805+

 

Yes, the UK regulates the contents of its vaping cannisters, but  there is NO  regulation or standard of care in the   material available in much of the world, especially  those  sold in Thailand and China.

 

It is undeniable that vaping is toxic to lung tissue and the throat, that vapers  demonstrate tissue inflammation and are at an increased  risk of mouth and lung infections. For those with or at risk of heart disease vaping will  increase the likelihood of  coronary thrombosis/heart attack/stroke for the simple reason that  nicotine as ingested damages blood vessels by irritating them, causing inflammation which in turn causes plaques to rupture.

 

People who ingest vaping products  are consuming higher amounts of organic compounds such as formaldehyde and acetones than with cigarettes. More specifically, they consume  diacetyl, a flavouring ingredient that is that is directly linked to bronchiolitis obliterans (aka popcorn lung).  Public health agencies in  the USA, EU, Australia, Canada etc. neither endorse, nor promote vaping.

 

Appreciably the Reuters article is "news feed", but that does not make it reliable or factually correct.

33 minutes ago, webfact said:

It added that any British move to ban the use of flavors in regulated vaping products, as the U.S. and other countries have done, would deter smokers from switching and would "ultimately cost lives".

Cost lives ?, I thought it would save lives,especially of young people

who would be drawn to Vaping because of the various flavours,

regards Worgeordie

 

2 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Cost lives ?, I thought it would save lives,especially of young people

who would be drawn to Vaping because of the various flavours,

regards Worgeordie

 

That's the problem. Vaping is less bad than smoking, but not healthy. So you want cigarette smokers to switch, and at the same time prevent new vape users 

21 minutes ago, stevenl said:

That's the problem. Vaping is less bad than smoking, but not healthy. So you want cigarette smokers to switch, and at the same time prevent new vape users 

What you really want is people to give up smoking,and young

people not to start,not at all easy, I know.

regards Worgeordie

40 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

The vaping industry apparently has purchased some promotional space under the guise of an "information" article.   If "health experts" have doubts or concerns, why are they not identified? I cannot identify one reputable public health official who would advocate  on behalf of vaping.  On the contrary, since 2013,  the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has directly associated vaping with 200 confirmed health injuries. These include respiratory distress, pneumonia and heart disease disorders.  The USA has recorded 12 deaths directly due to vaping. Lung injuries  as July 2019 were 805+

 

Yes, the UK regulates the contents of its vaping cannisters, but  there is NO  regulation or standard of care in the   material available in much of the world, especially  those  sold in Thailand and China.

 

It is undeniable that vaping is toxic to lung tissue and the throat, that vapers  demonstrate tissue inflammation and are at an increased  risk of mouth and lung infections. For those with or at risk of heart disease vaping will  increase the likelihood of  coronary thrombosis/heart attack/stroke for the simple reason that  nicotine as ingested damages blood vessels by irritating them, causing inflammation which in turn causes plaques to rupture.

 

People who ingest vaping products  are consuming higher amounts of organic compounds such as formaldehyde and acetones than with cigarettes. More specifically, they consume  diacetyl, a flavouring ingredient that is that is directly linked to bronchiolitis obliterans (aka popcorn lung).  Public health agencies in  the USA, EU, Australia, Canada etc. neither endorse, nor promote vaping.

 

Appreciably the Reuters article is "news feed", but that does not make it reliable or factually correct.

Whilst much of what you said may be true, the suggestion that the article is based upon promotional propoganda from the vaping industry is nonsense, did you even bother reading the article? Do you not know what PHE is? This from their website:

 

"In the government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England, Public Health England (PHE) was asked to update its 2015 review of e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery systems every year until the end of 2022. This is the sixth report in the series.

This update looks at the prevalence of vaping among young people and adults. It also reviews research literature on vaping among pregnant women and people with mental health conditions.

PHE commissioned a group of leading UK tobacco control researchers to produce this report, which underwent international peer review."

 

Link to PHE Website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaping-in-england-evidence-update-march-2020

 

When I saw the headline my first thought was "who was behind this report", I too detest the tobacco industry but that does not excuse misrepresenting and attempting to discredit an authentic, independent report.

 

 

 

 

False fears preventing smokers from using e-cigarettes to quit

 

IMO the only way to stop smoking is to go cold turkey. Anything else is a fad.

24 minutes ago, evadgib said:

False fears preventing smokers from using e-cigarettes to quit

 

IMO the only way to stop smoking is to go cold turkey. Anything else is a fad.

I smoked 20 years, I started vaping then one month later I quit smoking entirely, then one year later I quit vaping. Fad you say ?

1 hour ago, thaichina said:

I smoked 20 years, I started vaping then one month later I quit smoking entirely, then one year later I quit vaping. Fad you say ?

lol, vaping hasn't been around long enough for you to be home and dry just yet ????

6 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

On the contrary, since 2013,  the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has directly associated vaping with 200 confirmed health injuries. These include respiratory distress, pneumonia and heart disease disorders.  The USA has recorded 12 deaths directly due to vaping. Lung injuries  as July 2019 were 805+

GK, do we have the figures for deaths and health injuries to smokers for the same period of time?

 

If the figures are less that those you stated above, then I would think vaping is the more dangerous option. But I doubt that very much, these are the figures for the other side of the coin, the ones that remain hidden in these types of reports.

I stopped smoking many years ago but I dit try vaping cannabis and found it very helpful in managing my pain and PTSD. The reason I stopped vaping was it was so much hassle and the cost. Now I read may reports before I tried it and I concluded that of course its not 100% safe however the number of deaths caused 100% by vaping is nearly negative. Vape deaths I've read have been from people who were ex smokers before so damage already done or people vaping to extrem basically chain smokers. First vaping is something like 90+% safer than smoking so I would switch immediately and if you don't smoke then don't vape unless there is a clear benifit to you vaping. I got so much benifit from vapining cannabis and wish I could have carried on but just couldn't get to grips with it... Cleaning, changing Chambers, changing eliments all the time which meant loss of liquid. Just to much hassle. 

8 hours ago, worgeordie said:

8 hours ago, webfact said:

It added that any British move to ban the use of flavors in regulated vaping products, as the U.S. and other countries have done, would deter smokers from switching and would "ultimately cost lives".

Cost lives ?, I thought it would save lives,especially of young people

who would be drawn to Vaping because of the various flavours,

regards Worgeordiey

Way I read it; was that the 'deter' ing people away from switching to e-cigs (because of the less flavours)

- and the resulting staying with the original coffin nails

-  would lead them to peddling back upstream.. and the 'ultimate' thing

I smoked from the age of 14 until I was 29 years old. Vaping was the only thing that I was successful with in terms of quitting long term. 

 

Used properly I think it's one of the best forms of assistance there is in regards to those serious about stopping tobacco 

Remember this kind of ad?

Why vape when you can just go outside in either Bangkok or Chaing Mai and breathe all that sick air into your lungs. Cheaper too.

An off topic post has been removed. 

 

being a lateral thinker:

I am not going to be surprised if somehow someone is going to re-purpose eCigs, into a startrek-like hyperspray mechanism that may provide a minimum  human/human contact way of vaccinating people i.e against Corona...

The meds being activated by the corona of the eCig mechanism

 

 

 

12 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Yes, the UK regulates the contents of its vaping cannisters, but  there is NO  regulation or standard of care in the   material available in much of the world, especially  those  sold in Thailand and China.

It is regulated in the modern world...but because the Thai Tobacco Monopoly decided they didn't like competition they got the government to ban it. Fact, vaping is 95% better for your health than smoking regular cigarettes...it's all about the money Buttercup ????

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-around-95-less-harmful-than-tobacco-estimates-landmark-review

The real question should be,if vaping is banned and dangerous to ones health why aren’t normal cigarettes banned.

To much money involved for governments to ban cigarettes,so the health of the public becomes secondary to money.

They are all a bunch of <deleted>.

 

Another un Natural stupid act that will cost the NHS in Britain bilions, There should be on every box of vapes and cigarettes saying this nullifies your NHS treatment you have to pay for your own self inflicted dirty disses, And dont go on about tax , becasue One operation can cost £100000 in after care and drugs, Nobody pays that amount of tax on cigarettes.

34 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

Another un Natural stupid act that will cost the NHS in Britain bilions, There should be on every box of vapes and cigarettes saying this nullifies your NHS treatment you have to pay for your own self inflicted dirty disses, And dont go on about tax , becasue One operation can cost £100000 in after care and drugs, Nobody pays that amount of tax on cigarettes.

As long as they put the same warnings on buying cars, eating cakes and drinking soft drinks, I'd be OK with that.

But the NHS covers all medical conditions, self-inflicted, accidentally inflicted, or caused by others.

 

Edited March 11, 20206 yr by BritManToo