Particularly risky: smoking plus vaping

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Many smokers just can't get rid of nicotine. The switch from tobacco to e-cigarettes, in addition to the complete end of the nicotine career, is increasingly seen by experts as the second best alternative. However, some people come up with the idea of ​​combining both forms of nicotine supply. A study by the Massachusetts General Hospital shows that this is not a good idea.

Dr. Krishna Reddy and colleagues had accompanied around 21,000 people for a year - including non-smokers, smokers, e-cigarette users and people who consumed tobacco and e-cigarettes. At first, none of them had any respiratory symptoms such as coughing or wheezing. That had changed by the end of the study.

Coughing and wheezing

10.7 percent of non-smokers reported respiratory problems. Among the e-cigarette users there were only a few more at 11.8 percent. Tobacco smokers, on the other hand, reported 17.1 percent of new respiratory symptoms. However, at 19.8 percent, the group that consumed both tobacco and e-cigarettes was most affected.

In the case of double users, e-cigarettes hardly contributed to reducing tobacco consumption: "We found no difference in the frequency or intensity (number of cigarettes per day) of smoking between exclusive tobacco smokers and double users," said study leader Reddy when asked by

Ten cigarettes a day

50 percent of the double users still smoked cigarettes every day - among the participants who only used tobacco it was 53 percent. Both groups of daily smokers consumed an average of ten cigarettes per day.

E-cigarettes play a subordinate role among double users: only 22 percent of them also consumed e-cigarettes every day.

It is not yet known why e-cigarettes alone hardly increase the risk of respiratory symptoms, but in combination with tobacco they do.

"Smoking affects the natural self-protection of the lungs"

However, the researchers have at least one hypothesis: “Some e-cigarettes contain substances that can damage the lungs. Smoking affects the natural self-protection of the lungs. That could increase the risk of harm from e-cigarette consumption, ”said Reddy. To get to the bottom of the mechanism, further research is necessary, says the scientist.

"People who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking should be warned not to use both," said Reddy, adding that the goal is to first switch completely from smoking to vaping, and eventually to give up e-cigarettes as well.

Growing e-cigarette consumption in Germany

In Germany, too, the number of consumers of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products is steadily increasing. While the manufacturers' turnover was 290 million euros in 2017, it was already 500 million in 2019.

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