​E Cigarettes and Diabetes

The dangers associated with smoking are well established as fact, thanks to a great amount of data from numerous research studies. Many smokers are moving over to e cigarettes and vaping to help them quit the harmful effects of tobacco smoking altogether which has raised a question. People want to know if e cigarettes are safe when you are diabetic.

Smoking and Diabetes

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those who smoke may be between thirty to forty percent more likely to, at some point, develop diabetes as compared to people who don’t smoke. The more cigarettes you smoke the higher your risk of becoming a type two diabetic is. Added to this, you must consider the fact that those with diabetes who are smokers face a higher risk of struggling with controlling their diabetes and with accurate insulin dosing. Clearly smoking is not advised for anyone, diabetic or not, however the presence of smoking for a diabetic offers additional health implications and concerns.

Vaping and Diabetes

Vaping is not smoking. Both may contain nicotine as the e liquids used in vaping come in various nicotine strengths allow someone who has smoked nicotine-containing tobacco cigarettes to switch over and gradually reduce their nicotine intake over time. Indeed, there are even a great many zero nicotine e juices available so that people may choose to vape nicotine free after stepping down their nicotine usage over time, if wish. Nicotine content is where the similarity between smoking and vaping ends.

Vaping has been dubbed by researchers and NHS trusts (and by many more) as being at least 95% cleaner and healthier than tobacco cigarettes. A great number of chemicals contained within tobacco cigarettes have been classified by WHO (World Health Organisation) as being toxic and potentially cancer-causing. No such classification exists for e liquids (the substance which is heated, not burnt, to produce a flavour-filled vapour that may be inhaled).

Giving up smoking offers clear benefits to smokers, whether they are diabetic or not. Given that smoking when diabetic affects diabetic control, switching over seems like the very best choice, particularly if you have had trouble giving up in the past.

Why Vape, Why Not Just Give Up Smoking?

If anyone can and wants to give up smoking and not move over to vaping, we say go for it and good luck! The most important factor to consider here is health and well being, not vape sales. We applaud anyone who gives up smoking using any method they can (that isn’t going to harm them!) and stays off the cigarettes.

If, however, you find giving up smoking difficult, have tried and failed or simply don’t want to give up an enjoyable habit yet don’t want the health implications, switch.

Studies show that smokers find it hard to quit smoking for a number of reasons. Nicotine usage may be one of them (although the addictive power of nicotine is under scrutiny at the moment), alongside the physical habits of having a hand to mouth hobby (that isn’t eating), taking a draw and enjoying the social aspect of smoking. All of these factors may be mirrored by vaping, without the individuals facing the health dangers that come with smoking.

Support for Vaping

You will be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks that cigarette smoking is a good idea. Thanks to some excellent public health campaigns over the years, the dangers of tobacco cigarette smoking have been well documented and are public knowledge. You will, however, find a great amount of support for vaping, from numerous charities, including Cancer UK, NHS professionals and trusts, medical professionals and even from Public Health England themselves (who implemented the smoking bans in England).

All of this support for vaping from medical professionals speaks volumes.

In Summary

Smoking is bad, and vaping is significantly better. Vaping helps people quit smoking when previous efforts have failed. When it comes to vaping, there are no negative effects on people who have diabetes or any data that suggests vaping is a risk factor for people developing type two diabetes. Giving up smoking is often attributed to people becoming more active and generally taking better care of their health. If your means of giving up smoking is via switching to vaping, it would seem that there are a number of ways that vaping may actually help people with diabetes.

Clearly vaping may be as beneficial to smoking diabetics and non-diabetic smokers, which is why we are so pleased to see people switching off and taking charge of their health.