A recent large scale study of over 15,000 doctors from 11 different countries found that the majority of them inaccurately believe that vaping can cause a range of respiratory illnesses including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
In what is a clear example of the misinformation circulating about vapes, the global survey found a total of 74% of the participants “incorrectly [believing that] nicotine causes a range of illnesses from lung cancer to COPD.” While on average 87% of the doctors surveyed, agreed that helping patients quit cigarettes is a priority. Sadly however, the latter feel they are not adequately trained to offer advice on alternative nicotine products or tobacco harm reduction.
Meanwhile, a 2022 independent review of UK studies confirmed that vapers are exposed to much lower levels of toxins than smokers. “In terms of health risks, we said that vaping imposes a small fraction of the risk of smoking in the short to medium term. Consistently, vaping exposes people to much lower level, significantly lower levels of risk than smoking,” said Dr Debbie Robson of Queens College London on discussing the findings.
Fearmongering by established medical groups
Sadly medical groups such as the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology), tend to ignore peer reviewed studies on the matter such as the above, and keep adding to the confusion, recently even claiming that doctors “increasingly discourage vaping amid mounting health concerns.”
“..emerging clinical evidence suggests that…e-cigarettes use in patients with COPD can help patients with COPD abstain from long-term smoking with clinically relevant health gains.”Dr. Ricardo Polosa, respiratory health physician and reseacrher
COPD patients enjoy health gains when switching to non-combustible nicotine products
However, a study titled, “Health outcomes in COPD smokers using heated tobacco products: a 3-year follow-up,” published in the scientific journal Internal and Emergency Medicine reported unequivocally positive findings. It reported that COPD patients who switched from smoking to using HTPs, or at least reduced the amount they smoked, showed consistent improvements in respiratory symptoms, exercise tolerance, and their general quality of life.
“It is well known that cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor for COPD and abstaining from smoking is the only evidence-based intervention that improves the prognosis for COPD,” said study author and award winning researcher Prof. Riccardo Polosa. However, it is of course widely known that most smokers do not manage to quit no matter how precarious their health situation may be.
The respiratory health expert added that for such smokers, most especially if they are COPD patients, substituting regular cigarettes for combustion-free nicotine delivery alternatives should be considered an alternative pragmatic approach. He emphasized that although not risk-free, science indicates their relative benefit “..emerging clinical evidence suggests that…e-cigarettes use in patients with COPD can help patients with COPD abstain from long-term smoking with clinically relevant health gains.”