Your Health

Got a medical problem or need health advice? Ask GP Dr Philippa Kaye

- GP Dr Philippa Kaye

I’ve been a smoker since my teens and I’m now in my 50s. I changed to vaping, but my daughter is still horrified at me. Which is worse – real cigarettes or electronic ones?

As a doctor, I would prefer for patients to not start smoking, or if they do, it would be much better for them if they could stop smoking altogether. But I also appreciate that quitting smoking can be extremely difficult for many people.

For smokers, e-cigarettes can be a useful step to quitting nicotine completely. Switching to e-cigarettes means that you are now receiving the nicotine to help your cravings, but you are not suffering from the effects of the tar and the other components that

For his birthday, my husband got a handheld computer game from the grandchildren with brain-training puzzles. He absolutely adores it and says he’s protecting himself against dementia. I prefer the daily newspaper crossword, but should I be doing brain-training games instead?