Vaping stores throughout Cumbria have had their say after newly-released data suggested smokers who also vape have an increased risk of strokes.

New research published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that vapers who both smoke and use e-cigarettes (at the time of the study) were almost twice (1.83) more likely to have a stroke, compared to those who only smoked cigarettes, and nearly three times more likely (2.91) than those who have never smoked.

But DR Vapes owner Ryan Heavy still encourages vaping over traditional cigarettes.

“Vaping does carry a lot less risk than smoking does,” the Whitehaven shop owner said. “Obviously it carries risks, but I’d absolutely still back vaping over smoking cigarettes.”

The study also suggested that compared with non-smokers, sole e-cigarette smoking was not linked to increased odds of stroke, which Mr Heavy supported.

He said: “Vaping is all about harm reduction. There’s a risk with everything, but vaping reduces those risks, and I’d 100% encourage people to still choose vaping over smoking because [of this].”

Manager of Workington's Vapour Bar, Claire Dobson, also supported the study, and discussed the lack of health benefit when using both traditional and e-cigarettes.

"It stands to reason that there are no health benefits with dual use," she said. "I really support the obvious fact that smoking is very, very, very bad for you – we all know this.

"The study even says if you've never smoked and use e-cigarettes, your risk of a stroke isn't much higher at all, so it proves the damage is done by smoking before they make the switch to e-cigarettes."

Carlisle's Vandella Vapes owner, John Hogarth, also commented, saying: “I’ve had the shop for three years and have seen people switching from cigarettes to vaping, and they’ve never gone back.

“Products we sell are from genuine and certified UK suppliers, so we know they’re as safe as they can be.”

He added: “They’re not 100% safe, but they’re 95% safer than cigarettes, and that’s what’s important to remember.”

Explaining the research, Dr Shahab, senior lecturer in epidemiology and public health at University College London, said: “It is entirely possible that the group of current or former smokers took up e-cigarettes precisely because they had a health scare, which would result in the observed association.”

He added: “It is entirely possible that dual users chose to use e-cigarettes in addition to cigarettes because they are more dependent, as has been found in other studies, which would suggest that over their lifetime this group of people may have been exposed to more harmful substances from cigarette smoking, increasing their risk of stroke.

“While this paper highlights the need to continue studying the potential health effects of e-cigarette use, the results should be interpreted with caution as the observed associations may be simply due to unmeasured confounding and reverse causality.”