The vaping controversy: evidence remains a smoky affair

Earlier this year, we reported that people who smoke are almost twice as likely to have a heart attack compared with people who have never smoked and noted that tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death (Mendes, 2019). Encouragingly, NHS Digital (2019) has just published its annual figures and found that the proportion of cigarette smokers in England has fallen from 14.9% in 2017 to 14.4% in 2018.

Although tobacco use has declined by 0.5% between 2017 and 2018, the use of e-cigarettes has increased and the number of e-cigarette users has risen by 0.8% in the same time period (The Pharmaceutical Journal, 2019a; 2019b). Whether or not this is a ‘win’ is up for debate.

The research surrounding the risks of vaping is conflicting, as e-cigarettes contain nicotine, and are addictive and toxic; however, its effects appear less detrimental to a person's health than tobacco smoking (Mendes, 2019). Ideally, the aim would be for people not to engage in neither tobacco nor e-cigarette smoking; but walking before running can be seen as a reasonable approach to take.