Vaping has grown in popularity enormously in recent years. Meanwhile, there are some controversies attached to it with many asking the question, “Is vaping safe?”. It is well known that smoking cigarettes are certainly harmful to our health, which can lead to lung cancer and other diseases, largely due to the hazards released by burning tobacco. But the chemical substances that have been detected in vaping are tobacco-free. So why concerned?
Is vaping safe?
Vaping is relatively much safer than smoking even if the study on vaping hasn’t been conducted for very long. Public Health England once said that vaping was 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes. E-liquid, the important part of e-cigarettes, mainly consists of nicotine, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and flavorings. There is no tobacco, and the amount of nicotine can be carefully controlled. Not to mention that the main chemicals found in most popular brands of e-juice have been approved by FDA and are completely safe for consumption. The researchers have not found carbon monoxide, tar, and other harmful chemicals in vaping, which will be generated by smoking cigarettes.
Can vaping help quit smoking?
To quit smoking, lots of smokers are switching to vaping from smoking. In England, e-cigarettes have become the most popular aid to quit smoking. E-cigarettes have been proven to be very effective in supporting smokers trying to quit, with 27.2% of smokers using them, while 18.2% of smokers using nicotine replacement therapy products such as patches and chewing gum.
Some of the highest success rates of those trying to quit smoking are among people using an e-cigarette to kick their addiction alongside local Stop Smoking services, with up to 68 % successfully quitting in 2020 to 2021.
E-cigarettes could be prescribed on the NHS in the UK
On 29th, October 2021, a new report from the official website of the UK government claims that e-cigarettes could be prescribed on the NHS in England to help people stop smoking tobacco products. The NHS stands for the National Health Service, and it is the UK’s biggest medical and health care system with more than 50 million visits every month. The government aspires to be smoke-free by 2030 and to reduce stark health disparities in smoking rates.
According to the report, e-cigarette manufacturers can contact MHRA to submit their products to pass the same regulatory approval process as other medicines available on the health services.
If the product is approved by the MHRA, clinicians can decide whether it is appropriate to prescribe e-cigarettes to NHS patients to help them quit smoking based on the specific circumstances. But it is still strongly recommended that non-smokers and children do not use e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes also contain nicotine and are not risk-free, but experts’ opinions from the UK and US have been clear that the regulated e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking. E-cigarettes licensed for medicinal use must pass stricter safety inspections.
