Most people who consume nicotine in the UK use vapes or smoke traditional cigarettes, and each of these methods of nicotine delivery has unique health implications. However, vaping has emerged as a healthier alternative as a result of a wider understanding of the harmful effects of traditional smoking. Despite this, some of the misconceptions around using a vape vs smoking persist, and many people still believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking.
Read on to explore the health considerations associated with using the best vape mods for beginners, other vaping devices, and smoking cigarettes. Find out why using the best-quality pod systems, box mods, and other devices we love here at Legion of Vapers is regarded as a superior choice for smokers looking to reduce harm or quit altogether.
The Health Impacts of Smoking
Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable illness and death in the UK and around the world. The main health risks associated with traditional smoking are linked to the burning of tobacco, which produces more than 7,000 chemicals. More than 60 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. Some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke include arsenic, benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nicotine, and tar.
The major health concerns linked to smoking include:
Respiratory issues: Traditional smoking damages the lungs and can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also significantly increases the risk of lung cancer, which accounts for a large proportion of smoking-related deaths.
Cardiovascular disease: Due to the impact on blood vessels, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, smoking is a major risk factor for cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and strokes.
Cancer: Smoking is not only linked to lung cancer. It can cause at least 15 types of cancer in various parts of the body, such as the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, and pancreas.
Other health issues: Traditional cigarette smoking contributes to other health concerns, such as poor oral health, weakened immune systems, and fertility problems.
Vaping: A Less Harmful Alternative
Introduced as an alternative to smoking, vaping involves heating e-liquid that contains propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, flavourings, and nicotine with the help of a vape coil, wick, and battery contained within the many of the devices here at LoV to produce a vapour that you inhale. When it comes to puffing on a vape vs smoking, vaping isn’t entirely risk-free, but it’s preferable to smoking cigarettes.
Numerous studies and reviews by various institutions, such as Public Health England’s (PHE) 2015 study and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London 2022 review, suggest that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking. According to IoPPN, levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines, volatile organic compounds, and other toxic chemicals linked to the main diseases caused by smoking were found at significantly lower levels in people who use vaping devices compared with those who smoke cigarettes.
The main health considerations of vaping include:
Absence of burning tobacco: Unlike cigarettes, vaping devices don’t burn tobacco, so you don’t need to worry about many of the harmful combustion-related chemicals, such as carbon monoxide and tar, which contribute to smoking-related diseases.
Fewer toxic substances: While e-liquid and the vapour they produce contain some chemicals, their levels are much lower than those found in cigarette smoke. Acrolein and formaldehyde are two of the harmful compounds that are found at much lower levels in vaping products.
Reduced second-hand exposure: Second-hand smoke from cigarettes is a serious public health issue. Vaping produces fewer and less harmful chemicals, reducing the risk to people nearby.
The Myth of Equal Harm
Despite vape vs smoking research and the growing body of evidence that vaping is less harmful than smoking, you’ll still encounter a few persistent myths fuelled by sensationalist media coverage and limited understanding.
A 2023 survey found that 57% of UK adults incorrectly believe vaping to be as harmful or more harmful than smoking. This misconception about vaping products can discourage smokers from switching to vaping, potentially exposing themselves to the more severe risks of smoking for longer.
Benefits of Vaping
As far as the benefits of using a vape vs smoking go, smoking traditional cigarettes has no benefit. However, vaping does have benefits if you’re already a smoker and you switch to vaping. Some of the benefits of using LoV’s quality vaping products include:
Smoking cessation: Devices such as the best vape kits for beginners are popular tools for quitting smoking. These devices can deliver nicotine in a controlled manner and even mimic the experience of smoking without many harmful combustion byproducts. In the UK, 2.7 million of the 5 million people who stopped smoking in the last five years used a vaping device to quit smoking.
Customisable nicotine levels: When using a vaping device, you can choose from e-liquids with different nicotine strengths. This allows you to gradually reduce and eventually stop, if desired.
Harm reduction for long-term smokers: For smokers unable or unwilling to quit nicotine altogether, vaping offers a safer alternative that can reduce exposure to harmful substances.
Cost savings: Smoking cigarettes is an expensive habit. Even though vaping might have higher costs initially, such as if you buy a reusable device, you can get your nicotine fix in fewer vape puffs compared to smoking a cigarette, making vaping cheaper in the long run.
Social acceptability: Vaping is fast becoming a more socially acceptable alternative to smoking. Some of the reasons for this are the reduced risk of second-hand harm, the use of less intrusive vape devices such as pod kits designed for MTL vaping, and no bad odours that linger.
Choose the Safer Option
If you’re thinking about using a vape vs smoking because you want a less harmful alternative to cigarettes, the good news is that vaping offers a great option backed by extensive research and public health endorsements from the NHS and other bodies. While not entirely without risk, using vape kits enables you to avoid many of the severe health consequences associated with smoking, especially those linked to burning tobacco.
Turn to Legion of Vapers for the best vape tanks for beginners, pod kits, vape mods, e-liquids, components, accessories, and much more. Choose the safer option.
