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Stop Smoking Tobacco E-cigarettes helpful in quitting
There have been more and more conflicting statements recently about the effects of smoking e-cigarettes. Now, British researchers found that the growing number of e-cigarette smokers actually affects the use of regular cigarettes. It is becoming increasingly clear that e-cigarettes help people stop smoking ordinary cigarettes.
Researchers at University College London found in an investigation that e-cigarettes could increase the likelihood of successfully stopping normal smoking. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal British Medical Journal (BMJ).
There have been many contradictory statements about the impact of e-cigarettes on the consumption of regular cigarettes. British researchers are once again campaigning for the e-cigarette. The scientists found in an investigation that more and more people use e-cigarettes. Over the same period, more and more users of regular cigarettes stopped smoking. (Image: Frank Eckgold / fotolia.com) Support e-cigarettes in smoking cessation?
The prevalence of smoking in the United Kingdom fell significantly between 2014 and 2015. This could be an indication of the impact of using e-cigarettes. It is not clear evidence, but this possibility is becoming more and more likely, explain the experts. Some time ago, another study found that British scientists in e-cigarettes see a real alternative for smokers.
Researchers: The public needs to recognize the potential of e-cigarettes
Successful quitting smoking through substitution with e-cigarettes could be an important factor, explain the British authors. The challenge for public health is now that we need to recognize the potential of the new technology and make full use of it to our advantage, the physicians add. E-cigarettes could actually help smokers quit smoking. Earlier, English physicians had highlighted the benefits of the e-cigarette.
The probability of quitting smoking increases due to e-cigarettes
For a new study, UK health professionals spent several years researching the benefits of e-cigarette smoking cessation. Another study of English smokers had previously shown that smokers are about 60 percent more likely to successfully quit smoking if they also use e-cigarettes. This value refers to a comparison with smokers who did not use any products to replace nicotine or who use nicotine patches or nicotine gum, the researchers explain. Researchers at University College London investigated whether the widespread use of e-cigarettes also affects active smokers of regular cigarettes. Above all, the experts were interested in whether e-cigarettes help normal smokers quit.
Physicians examine the data of about 80,000 smoking subjects
The scientists examined the data of about 80,000 smokers for their new study. These were all part of the English Smoking Toolkit Study from 2006 to 2015, say the scientists. In the last quarter of 2006, the rate of people who quit smoking was 10.6 percent. By the first quarter of 2015, the success rate had already risen to 18.6 percent, explain the authors of the study. In the meantime, the proportion of smokers using e-cigarettes also rose from virtually zero to a staggering 21.3 percent. The use of e-cigarettes was even more popular among smokers who wanted to stop using their vice. 35 percent of those affected used the electronic devices in 2015. The spread of e-cigarettes coincided with a decline in the use of conventional substitutes for nicotine, the physicians add.
Since more people use e-cigarettes, the number of smokers is falling
The researchers found no conclusive link between e-cigarettes and the attempt to quit smoking. But the calculations show that for every one-percent increase in the use of e-cigarettes, the successful attempts to quit smoking increased by 0.098 percent, the researchers explain. In addition, it was found that for every one-percent increase in smokers using e-cigarettes who plan to stop smoking, 0.058 percent more could successfully quit smoking.
In 2015, e-cigarettes could have turned 18,000 people into non-smokers in England
If the use of e-cigarettes really helps stop smoking, this could mean that in England alone 54,288 people were able to quit smoking in 2015. And the reason could actually be e-cigarettes, the doctors speculate. Although about two-thirds of these people are likely to relapse, the figure still indicates that about 18,000 people will become long-term ex-smokers, say the authors. However, some doctors warn against the dangers of e-cigarettes. There are some previous studies that, for example, stated that vaporization with e-cigarettes can lead to cardiovascular damage. In addition, various carcinogenic substances have been detected in the smoke of e-cigarettes.
Results of the study are clinically significant
For some people, the results of the new study may sound like no great improvement, yet the study is clinically quite significant. The benefits to human health are enormous when we quit smoking. A 40 year old smoker can live up to nine years longer if he stops smoking compared to a permanent smoker, the doctors explain. Of course, there are also restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes. For example, e-cigarettes may no longer be sold to young people, at least in Germany.
E-cigarettes do not encourage smokers to continue smoking
In the early days of e-cigarettes, health professionals worried that e-cigarettes would encourage smokers to continue smoking. The e-cigarettes will create a socially acceptable smoking substitute in places where cigarettes are usually banned, the researchers suspected back then. However, the new study suggests that this idea does not correspond to reality. (As)