Electronic cigarette can help quit smoking

A new study from Queen Mary University in London shows that for those who have been unable to quit smoking for a long time, e-cigarettes can help smokers quit smoking better than traditional drug-assisted methods and nicotine replacement therapy. The paper was recently published in addiction, a top academic journal on behavioral addiction research.

The paper said that in the UK, most smokers who seek medical help often fail, and 80% of smokers who try various ways to quit smoking in hospitals will smoke again a year later.

How to not only satisfy smokers' dependence on nicotine, but also reduce the harm caused by tobacco burning? This is not a new proposition. Nicotine replacement therapy has been used in the field of smoking cessation for a long time. However, this method has shortcomings. First, it is expensive, and there are few successful cases of quitting smoking by this means. Secondly, when using nicotine replacement therapy, medical institutions need to provide frequent behavioral support to smokers, such as face-to-face consultation and advice, which is difficult to be widely promoted in the UK.

The emergence of electronic cigarette provides a new choice for smokers, and successful cases have shown that it can help smokers quit smoking.

In the research of Queen Mary University in London, the researchers recruited 135 smokers over the age of 18 who had failed to quit smoking by using medical aids, and distributed nicotine substitute products and e-cigarettes to them respectively, including an e-cigarette product from a brand in China.

After a six-month survey, 26.5% of participants who used e-cigarettes successfully reduced the use of traditional cigarettes and even quit smoking completely, compared with only 6% in the nicotine substitution group. The experiment also found that 97% of those who quit smoking with nicotine had mixed many similar products during the period of smoking cessation, such as nicotine patch and spray. Participants who use e-cigarettes only need this product to meet their smoking cessation needs.