The 4.3 million people who are now vaping in the UK would be forgiven for being confused after reading alarming headlines about how e-cigarettes can lead to “worrisome changes” in blood pressure and heart function.

Senior academics in the UK expressed dismay after suggestions by a US team of researchers that measurements of heart rate and blood pressure cast doubt on findings that smoking is much more dangerous than vaping. Scientists at King’s College London, who recently carried out the largest review of its kind into vaping, were “in despair” at the coverage the US analyses has generated, i has been told.