It is estimated that there are 10 million cigarette smokers in the UK and 1.3 billion in the world.  Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with the majority of these deaths due to cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The e-cigarette has been embraced by the public and it is considered to be the number one aid to stop smoking among those who want to quit. Although e-cigarettes have been found to help people smoke fewer cigarettes and appear to have a relatively small number of side effects, little is known about their effects on the cardiovascular system and risk of developing CVD.

This project involved 248 smokers who wanted to stop smoking and were randomly divided into three groups. One group received nicotine-rich e-cigarettes, another nicotine-free e-cigarettes and the third received conventional nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT). All groups also received behavioural change support that NHS stop smoking services provide.

The main focus of the study was to find out how these three aids affect the cardiovascular system using methods that are widely accepted as good ways of measuring CVD risk. It was found that there were immediate, positive effects on the small arteries and veins, with no significant difference between the three groups, and these benefits were most pronounced in those who smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day. This improvement in blood vessel health persisted both in the medium (3 months after stopping smoking) and longer-term (6 months after stopping) in all three groups, without any difference between the groups. This suggests that e-cigarettes offer similar benefits to blood vessel health compared to established stop smoking methods and reduce CVD risk.

The research team interviewed some of the participants about their experiences of using the stop smoking aids and observed positive effects on anxiety levels and quality of life. Also, participants were cautious of using e-cigarettes and replacing smoking addiction with a vaping habit. However, they generally viewed them positively compared to NRT, finding them useful during a quit attempt.

These novel findings show that using e-cigarettes as a stop smoking aid has similar benefits on the cardiovascular system compared to NRT, and will help smokers make an informed decision about which option to choose. Also, the research is important because it may influence changes to the national ‘Stop Smoking’ strategy and the NICE guidelines on the use of e-cigarettes, and help to improve regulation of the e-cigarettes industry.