An Estimated 2.6 Million Brits Have Switched To Electronic Cigarettes In One Year

With an objective to give up the hazardous smoking habit, nearly half a million people have chosen electronic cigarettes. An estimated 2.6 million adults in Great Britain have been using electronic cigarette.

The number of the electronic cigarette smokers has increased from 2.1 million in 2014, which also includes the conversions of the ex-smokers to electronic cigarettes. This has turned to be one of the latest fashions among all the age groups.

Electronic cigarette is considered as a better option for avoiding nicotine fumes, but 22 percent of the people consider it harmful to some extent and even deadly, as the high power e-cigarettes produce formaldehyde. The smaller and comparatively lesser harming probability from e-cigarettes is getting more coverage than the known risks of tobacco.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has recently revealed a report based on its study on the e-cigarette users. Between the year 2013 and 2015, there has been a decline in the number of people who do not know whether an electronic cigarette is more or less harmful than the conventional cigarette (from 38 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2015). On the other hand, there has been an increase in the number of people, from 43 percent in 2013 to 52 percent in 2015, who think electronic cigarettes are less harmful.

Certain flavourings that are used in e-cigarettes can adversely affect the smoker's lungs after a prolonged use. These flavours alter vital cellular functions of the lung tissue, EurekAlert reported. It affects cell viability, and it could be harmful to the users in the future.

“The effects of the various chemical components of e-cigarette vapour on lung tissue are largely unknown. In our study using human lung epithelial cells, a number of cell viability and toxicity parameters pointed to five of 13 flavours tested showing overall adverse effects to cells in a dose-dependent manner," said lead author Temperance Rowell, a graduate student in the Cell Biology and Physiology Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In New Zealand, the e-cigarette users have tripled in the last two years. Nine researchers from Otago University and Auckland University have recommended to the government to restrict sales of nicotine e-cigarettes only to the pharmacies. This is to ensure the products are not available without a doctor's prescription. The Health Ministry doubts that electronic cigarettes could be an entryway for the youth to nicotine addiction and smoking.

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