e-cig dispute in Stoptober smoking campaign
The Smoking“Stoptober” campaign to try and encourage people to stop smoking by using e cigarettes has raised the issue of the unknown dangers of vaping.
Public Health England will be running a series of 30 second television adverts shortly in support of the Stoptober campaign.
The campaign has been successful in reducing the numbers of people smoking.
For the first time the adverts will encourage long-term smokers to use e-cigarettes as a way to try and quit smoking.
There are concerns raised in the media about this advice. Some medical research papers have said e cigarettes may have safety issues. These include connections from long-term use and heart disease and cancer. A USA study suggests that nicotine in the e-cigarette devices may cause an abnormal heart rate.
There are concerns that short term use of e cigarettes can cause immediate bodily changes.
e cigarettes are seen by many as way to stop smoking – but the dangers are still not known
The Smoking Statistics
The Stoptober campaign has been running for some years. It runs alongside the smoking ban introduced in 2007. This has helped reduce levels of smoking within the UK from 26.8% in 2000. it went down to 21% when the smoking ban was introduced. Currently only 15.5% of over 18’s in 2016 still smoke.
Statistics suggest that 79,000 people a year die in the UK due to smoking related illnesses. In addition for every death another 20 smokers are suffering from smoking-related disease.
Public Health England
Public Health England’s view is that e cigarettes are the most popular tool for people to stop tobacco smoking. They point to a University College London campaign about the use of e cigarettes. The research shows 20% of attempts to quit by this way were successful in the first six months of this year. The view is that the use of e cigarettes, along with other factors such as changed packaging and shop screening, all play a part.
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence)
NICE have concerns and argue that there is little evidence of long-term effects of e cigarettes on human health. They argue that until more is known then they should not be recommended as a way of stopping smoking. The use of nicotine patches and other methods are suggested.
Smoking – Comment
The starting point to all of this is that smoking is harmful. Some 3 million people in the country now use e-cigarette devices. In our view any efforts to reduce the number of people smoking is welcome.
The medical evidence clearly shows that even long term smokers benefit if they stop. Accordingly our view is that anybody who has a long-term chest condition should try any method to stop smoking.
It is never too late.
The link to the Stoptober campaign is here http://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/stoptober/home?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3OSoori21gIVSrHtCh1kqQPaEAAYASAAEgJNSfD_BwE#RUD0IIEmWxA9rfwP.97
Our team deal with asbestos victims. For those people who smoke any effort to reduce one toxin in the body should be embraced. The relationship with asbestos and smoking is a complex one and any effort to cut down smoking will help a person’s health. We applaud the Stoptober campaign.
Call us now on 0800 083 7839 if you have lung cancer which might be due to something other than smoking. Our team can offer advice and help. our link to more information about lung cancer and smoking is here https://www.corries.co.uk/asbestos-claims/asbestos-deseases/lung-cancer/