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THURSDAY, April 26, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Evidence relating to the pros and cons of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as helpful smoking cessation tools is presented and discussed in a head to head article published online April 25 in The BMJ<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Paul Aveyard, Ph.D., M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and Deborah Arnott, from Action on Smoking and Health in London, discussed the pros of recommending e-cigarettes. The authors note that e-cigarettes seem to double the likelihood of achieving abstinence and are as effective as nicotine replacement therapy for supporting cessation. E-cigarettes are popular cessation aids, which may lead to increases in the success of quit attempts. Although experimentation with e-cigarettes seems relatively common among young people, regular use among never smokers is rare.<\/p>\n
Kenneth C. Johnson, Ph.D., from the University of Ottawa in Canada, presented evidence relating to the limits and hazards of the use of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid. He notes that overall evidence indicated that e-cigarettes reduce cigarette smoking cessation. Smokers who are daily users of high-dose e-cigarettes may quit more, but most are less likely to quit than nonusers. A meta-analysis of 25 studies showed that smokers using e-cigarettes were 27 percent less likely to stop smoking. Furthermore, evidence indicates that e-cigarette use increases the risk of ever smoking among youth.<\/p>\n
“The net effect of e-cigarettes on smoking cessation is negative, high levels of dual use undermine harm reduction, and gateway risks for youth smoking initiation are a demonstrated danger,” Johnson writes.<\/p>\n
One author was chief investigator of a trial for which GlaxoSmithKline donated nicotine patches.<\/p>\n