Safety of e-cigarettes in pregnancy is similar to that of nicotine patches while possibly more effective<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, May 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Electronic cigarettes may help women who are pregnant to stop smoking, according to a study published online May 16 in Nature Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Peter Hajek, Ph.D., from Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial in which 1,140 pregnant women who smoked were randomly assigned to e-cigarettes (569 women) or nicotine patches (571 women). <\/p>\n The researchers found that validated prolonged quit rates at the end of pregnancy did not significantly differ between the two groups (6.8 percent for e-cigarettes versus 4.4 percent with patches). During the study, some participants in the nicotine patch group also used e-cigarettes. When excluding abstinent participants who used nonallocated products, e-cigarettes were more effective than patches (6.8 versus 3.6 percent). Adverse events and birth outcomes were similar for both arms, although low birthweight (<2,500 g) was less frequent in the e-cigarette arm (14.8 versus 9.6 percent). <\/p>\n “Given the questions that remain about the potential risks of nicotine in pregnancy, stopping smoking without nicotine-containing aids is preferable to switching to such products,” the authors write. “Only when the choice is between using nicotine products such as nicotine replacement therapy or e-cigarettes or continuing to smoke, the use of nicotine replacement therapy or e-cigarettes would be the recommended option.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n