One of the things most vapers will have noticed if they pay any attention to the press coverage on Vaping is that the big, attention grabbing, headlines tend to be pretty negative. From a very quick search online for ‘negative vaping headlines’ the following articles all came up on the first page;VAPING BAD E-cigs are just as bad for your heart as smoking fags as they damage key blood vessels, say experts – The SunVaping is 'as bad as smoking cigarettes' for damaging key blood vessels – The IndependentVaping may not be as safe as smokers think, research suggests – The GuardianChange your search to ‘positive vaping headlines’ and you’ll notice an extreme lack of representation from the mainstream press. In fact, only one article, from the Guardian, is present on the first three pages of results and this is only highlighting the increase in people turning to vaping to help them quit smoking. I realise this is not the most scientific approach to analysing the press coverage of vaping in the UK. However, it does demonstrate that the mainstream press is perhaps more inclined to print negative vaping studies but maybe aren’t so enthusiastic about studies that have positive things to say. Why am I on my soapbox about this you may ask? Well over the last few weeks three separate studies and research projects into vaping have released their findings and all of them have had positive results. The one thing all three studies have in common is that the mainstream press doesn’t seem to have touched them. The studies cover different topics and some are relativity small in terms of the people sampled. None the less they deserve more coverage than they have had, if, for no other reason, just to provide some balance to vaping media coverage. For those of us who know a little more about vaping we can look at negative vaping stories objectively. We’re aware of the positive research that has been carried out and also the backing vaping has received as a smoking cessation aid to smoking from the likes of Cancer Research and Public Health England. For those people who don’t vape, or perhaps aren’t such vaping geeks, the one-sided nature of vaping headlines may be enough to put enough doubt in their mind to turn them away from vaping. On to The Research........Yale University Study Show E-Cigarettes Can Help Improve Smoking Cessation ProgramsWhat Were They looking At? The study was carried out by doctors and researchers from Yale’s School of Public Health. It was led by Dr. Stephen Baldassarri who has spent much of his career looking for safer alternatives to tobacco. They looked at vaping when it was used as part of a smoking cessation program and whether this made any favourable difference to the outcome. The study worked with 40 existing smokers who wanted to quit and split them into two sub groups. One of the sub-groups would receive low nicotine containing e-liquids and the other e-liquids containing no nicotine. They participants were then out onto the same smoking cessation program which included the use of patches and offered psychological support.What Did They Find? The program itself lasted for 8 weeks but participants were asked to track their e-cigarette usage for 24 weeks when a check up and discussion session was carried out. The results were that two times as many people from the low nicotine e-liquid group had quit smoking verses the no nicotine group. Why is this Important? This is the first such study, especially out of the US, that has been carried out by such a respected institution. Their findings support the notion that using e-liquid containing low levels of nicotine in conjunction with a supported smoking cessation program can greatly increase the chances of quitting. You can view the full study here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460317304422 Quit Methods Used by American Smokers, 2013–2014What Were They looking At?The study was carried out by researchers from the Department of Medicine at the University of Louisville. It looked at the methods used by smokers to help them quit smoking, including unaided attempts, which used no form of smoking cessation aids. The study looked at a relatively large sample of over 11,000 smokers and former smokers when analysing its results.What Did They Find? The following extract is taken directly from the report’s conclusion;E-cigarettes were used by American adult smokers as quit-smoking aids in 2013–2014 more frequently than NRT products or prescription drugs. In addition, they were the only single quit method with a significantly higher proportion of former smokers than unaided quitting. Why is this Important? The study demonstrates that e-cigarettes are the most effective tool for those wishing to quit smoking and outperform more traditional methods such as NRT or prescription medication. You can view the full study here: http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/11/1403/htm Long-Term Study on Vaping Finds No Negative Health ImpactsWhat Were They looking At?The study was carried our by a research team from the University of Catania and was led by Dr. Riccardo Polosa. They tracked nine e-cigarette users who had never smoked as well as twelve participants who had no history of vaping or smoking over a three-and-a-half-year period. The study was looking for health impacts from vaping across a number of areas including blood pressure, heart rate, lung function, exhaled breath nitric oxide, exhaled carbon monoxide, and CT scans of the lungs.What Did They Find? No adverse or negative effects on participants health were recorded in the e-cigarette using sample. Why is this Important? It’s important to note that the sample size was small and the participants were of a relatively young age (Mean Average 29.7 years). However, the results provide us one of the first insights into longer term use of e-cigarettes. One of the big concerns around vaping is the unknown factor of how prolonged usage may affect people’s health. The findings from this study provide preliminary evidence that there is no cause for concern, although it does also state that further research is needed.You can view the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14043-2#Sec19