A newly-published study has revealed that e-cigarettes are three times for effective than nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) at helping smokers quit.
The study is the third published this year to demonstrate the effectiveness of e-cigarettes over traditional smoking-cessation aids.
The cross-sectional survey of almost 20,000 quit attempts revealed that vapers were 95 percent more likely to successfully quit smoking than those who went cold-turkey. Traditional nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) such as patches and gums had a quit rate of just 34 percent.
NRT was only successful when prescribed, reinforcing the importance of stop-smoking support for this quit method.
Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson said:
“Our study adds to growing evidence that use of e-cigarettes can help smokers to quit.
‘”It also raises concerns about the apparent lack of effectiveness of NRT bought from a shop.”
The report also revealed e-cigarettes to be highly effective regardless of user age or social background. Study co-author James Brown said that the growth of e-cigarettes ‘may ultimately start to reduce’ health inequality between the rich and the poor.
The findings received widespread support from experts and charities, including the British Lung Foundation. Dr Leonie Brose, senior lecturer at the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London, praised the research for being ‘robust’.
Dr Brose said:
“This is in line with what has already been found in randomised controlled trials and extends these findings to adult smokers in the real world.
“While success rates were similar for varenicline [Champix] and vaping, vaping is much more popular among smokers trying to quit smoking and thus helped more smokers quit.”
Source: Daily Mail
