Smokers who switch to vaping experience improved respiratory health, a major new study has shown.
The paper, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research by Oxford University Press, observed a group of adult smokers in the U.S. who had reported a baseline cough or wheeze.
It found that participants who took up vaping instead of smoking saw significant improvements in their symptoms of wheezing.
The report says: “Government agencies are increasingly weighing the risks and benefits of e-cigarette-assisted cigarette cessation given the reduced harm associated with e-cigarette use.
“This study provides novel evidence that completely transitioning from cigarettes to e-cigarettes is associated with increased rates of resolution from self-reported wheeze symptoms.”
Complete switch to vaping most effective
Switching to vapes had no effect, however, on reports of coughing. Those who started vaping while also continuing to smoke cigarettes saw no change in their respiratory symptoms.
This was true even among participants who reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked. It shows that stopping smoking completely is most beneficial to respiratory health.
The report continues: “.. those who transitioned from exclusive cigarette smoking to dual use and did not reduce their cigarette smoking intensity had decreased rates of respiratory symptom resolution compared with persistent smokers.”
Researchers used data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, a national measure of tobacco use in the U.S. performed by the National Institutes of Health.
They observed 5,210 adult smokers between 2013 and 2019 who smoked cigarettes at the beginning of the study and reported a baseline cough or wheeze.
The participants were divided into four groups: those who quit smoking altogether, those who switched to vaping exclusively, those who carried on only smoking, and those who continued smoking but also started vaping.
The study said: “.. transitioning from cigarettes to e-cigarettes was associated with increased rates of wheeze resolution but not cough resolution compared with persistent smoking.”
Vaping not associated with tobacco-related disease
The findings add to a growing body of evidence showing that vaping is significantly less harmful to health than smoking.
Last month a study found vaping to be beneficial to patients with heart disease.
The study from South Korea, published in the European Heart Journal, found that switching to vapes was equally as beneficial as quitting smoking entirely without using any alternatives.
And a recent landmark study from Sweden found vaping is not associated with any tobacco-related diseases such as cancer, heart problems and lung disease. Meanwhile, smoking is responsible for eight million deaths globally per year.
Sweden, which makes vapes and other nicotine alternatives widely available for smokers wanting to quit, was last week declared the world’s first “smoke free” country.
