Do ecigs help smokers in quitting conventional cigarettes?
According to the latest Cochrane review, the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes in helping people to quit smoking is higher than other NTR.
The review analysed the studies which focused on the use of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.
The previous Cochrane research, published in October 2020, included 50 studies, representing 12,430 participants, following standard Cochrane methods for screening and data extraction. The research indicated moderate‐certainty evidence that ECs with nicotine increase quit rates compared to ECs without nicotine and NRT.
The latest study expanded the Cohort of patients and research: 61 completed studies, representing 16,759 participants. The result of the update confirmed the higher rate of success of electronic cigarettes in smoking cessation programs comparing to other NRT.
“An important work that demonstrates what we have always known since we started our research on Tobacco Harm Reduction. The results matched with our research at CoEHAR, and are consistent with the outcome of international studies on the effects and effectiveness of electronic cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool” said Prof. Riccardo Polosa, founder of the Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) and top expert on ecigs.
Commenting on the review Dr Renèe O’Leary –“In Silico Science” project leader at CoEHAR- said “while using e-cigarettes to quit is a laudable goal, the vast majority of quit attempts end in failure in a couple of weeks or less. However, while many researchers and clinicians appear to be uncomfortable with continuing e-cigarette (and nicotine) use after abstinence has been achieved for some patients this is unrealistic as they have their own reasons for using nicotine.”
