It seems e-cigarettes are increasing in popularity with statistics showing that 2.6 million adults in Britain are now using them and a recent review of e-cigarette use shows that they are 95% less harmful than tobacco and could be prescribed on the NHS in future to help smokers quit. 
The BBC says the report for Public Health England recommends that then use of e-cigarettes, or ‘vaping’, could be a help in persuading people to quit cigarettes.
The report also says there is no evidence they give children a ‘gateway’ into smoking.
While some health campaigners have welcomed the findings, the British Medical Association (BMA) has expressed caution. BMA spokesman Dr Ram Moorthy said the review would help ensure an informed debate, but he insisted the public needed protection.
“We need to see a stronger regulatory framework that realises any public health benefit they may have, but addresses significant concerns from medical professionals around the inconsistent quality of e-cigarettes, the way they are marketed, and whether they are completely safe and efficient as a way to reduce tobacco harm,” he told the BBC.
With health experts divided over whether they should be seen as a much safer alternative to smoking, or a pathway to a deadly addiction.
Public Health England asked a team of experts to examine the emerging evidence and their report says that although GPs and stop-smoking services are currently not able to prescribe e-, they hope that hurdle will be removed in the future.
Public Health England says it is “committed to ensure that smokers have a range of evidence-based, effective tools to help them to quit”.
But, on the other hand, the Welsh government has previously announced that it plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed spaces.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are concerned the use of e-cigarettes may renormalise smoking. We are not alone in our concerns – the World Health Organisation and other international bodies have called for greater regulation of e-cigarettes and 40 other countries have already taken similar steps.”
One of the best ways to stop smoking is with hypnotherapy. Statistics show that hypnosis has a high success rate and is more effective than nicotine patches or other methods.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) is the largest not-for-profit hypnotherapy organisation in the UK and its therapists are highly qualified and trained in helping people quit unwanted habits.
The NCH says unwanted habits may often make someone feel as if they are out of control, that there is someone else or something inside them making them do this.
“The good news is that you are in control,” says the NCH. “You can change how you react to certain situations, and you can protect yourself in ways that are healthy and which allow you succeed and grow stronger in body and mind. You just need to know how to change it, and to believe you can.”
It says the reason why hypnotherapy works so rapidly with bad habits and behaviours is because it works directly with the subconscious, bypassing the critical mind and getting to the root of the issue so that changes can be made.
If you want to quit smoking, contact a hypnotherapist near you by using the NCH directory and your life will be healthier.
It’s better than e-cigarettes. After all, the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) recently analysed samples of two brands of e-cigarettes and found variable levels of nicotine but also traces of toxic chemicals including carcinogens, substances known to cause cancer. Examples of these chemicals included formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.