A new UK study has found that two thirds of smokers who have successfully switched to vaping have suffered fewer respiratory problems as a result.
The research, led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), assessed subjective changes in respiratory symptoms of smokers who had switched to vaping for at least two months.
The results, published in the Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, showed that 66% of the 941 people responding to the online survey reported an improvement in respiratory symptoms, 29% reported no change and only five per cent reported a worsening.
Report author Professor Peter Hajek said: "There is no doubt that e-cigarettes are much safer than conventional cigarettes, but smokers are still led to believe that they're dangerous.
“This misinformation includes a misreported study on rats that claimed that vaping may increase vulnerability to infections. These new findings from human vapers show that this is not the case.”
Some previous cell and animal studies have been interpreted as suggesting that vaping may increase vulnerability to infection. However, human trials have reported no significant adverse respiratory effects associated with e-cigarette use for up to 1.5 years, while a separate follow-up study of smokers with asthma found significant improvements in those who had switched to vaping.
Prof Hajek added: "The [QMUL] study needs to be interpreted with caution because it is based on self-reported data, and further studies using objective measures are needed.
“However, the present results provide sufficient information to suggest that vaping does not increase infection rates and may in fact lead to a decrease in infections."
The QMUL study results echoed the findings of an expert independent evidence review, carried out by Public Health England (PHE) last summer, which concluded that the current best estimate is that e-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than smoking , but that almost half the population (44.8%) don’t realise it.
It also found that there is no evidence so far to suggest that e-cigarettes are acting as a route into smoking for children or non-smokers.
The PHE study suggested that e-cigarettes may be contributing to falling smoking rates among adults and young people.
The comprehensive review found that almost all of the 2.8 million adults using e-cigarettes in the UK were current or ex-smokers, most of whom used the devices to help them quit smoking or to prevent them going back to cigarettes.
It also concluded that evidence suggests very few adults and young people (less than one per cent in each group) who have never smoked are becoming regular e-cigarette users.
Following the review, PHE published a paper on the implications of the evidence for policy and practice .
Professor Kevin Fenton, PHE’s director of health and wellbeing, said: “E-cigarettes are not completely risk-free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm.
“The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful [as smoking] and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting.”
E-cigarettes are now the most popular smoking cessation aid used by UK adults looking to switch to a less harmful alternative.
