Oxford University experts found high certainty evidence: electronic cigarettes help to quit smoking

Oxford University experts found high certainty evidence: electronic cigarettes help to quit smoking

According to foreign reports, today, influential researchers released a report that electronic cigarettes are better than replacement patches and chewing gum in helping smokers quit smoking.

Researchers at Oxford University found that

According to foreign reports, today, influential researchers released a report that electronic cigarettes are better than  replacement patches and chewing gum in helping smokers quit smoking.

Researchers at Oxford University found that smokers who used electronic cigarettes were twice as likely to quit smoking for six months as other smokers.

Cancer experts welcomed the report, which added more and more evidence that electronic cigarettes are effective smoking cessation tools.

But they warned non-smokers not to smoke electronic cigarettes, because they are relatively new products, and we do not know their long-term effects on health.

Dr. Nicola Lindson, a psychologist at the university, said that these products only bring a small part of the risk of smoking, but they are not risk-free.

At present, the NHS suggests that e-cigarettes can help smokers - although it is not a prescription drug.

But if the government's plan is implemented, the UK will become the first country in the world to prescribe electronic cigarettes to help smokers quit smoking.

The number of people using electronic cigarettes in the UK has more than doubled this year, from 4% in 2021 to 8.6% in 2022.

About 5% of American adults use electronic cigarettes.

The recent surge in prevalence is mainly driven by young people who smoke electronic cigarettes, which has attracted the attention of some experts.

Earlier this month, a respiratory pediatrician told the Daily Mail that the color device needs to be pasted with a cigarette-like graphic warning.

Despite concerns about the use of children, Dr. Lindson said: e-cigarettes do not burn tobacco; Therefore, they will not expose users to the complex mixture of chemicals that can cause diseases in people who smoke traditional cigarettes.

"E-cigarettes are not without risks. People who do not smoke or do not have smoking risks should not use them. However, there is evidence that E-cigarettes containing  only bring a small part of smoking risks."

This 290-page Cochrane review includes 78 studies, involving more than 22000 participants, and has added 22 studies since the last update in 2021.

They looked at the data of smokers who tried to quit smoking and compared them with the success of electronic cigarettes and other therapies within six months.

These include replacement therapy, such as patches and chewing gum, Vankeland, a drug that helps people quit smoking, and  and non- e-cigarettes.

Xiaobian found that some studies also compared these success rates with those without smoking cessation support.

The researchers also studied the side effects of the treatment after at least one week of use.

The results show that if 6 out of 100 people quit smoking by using  replacement therapy, 8 to 12 people will quit smoking by using electronic cigarettes containing

This means that 2 to 6 out of every 100 people may use electronic cigarettes containing to quit smoking.

The evidence also shows that the smoking cessation rate of e-cigarettes containing  is higher than that of e-cigarettes without, or there is no smoking cessation intervention, but there are few data helpful for these analyses.

Dr. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, the lead author, said that since its launch more than ten years ago, e-cigarettes have caused many misunderstandings in the public health sector and the mass media.

"This is the first time, which provides us with highly determined evidence that electronic cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches or chewing gum, in helping people quit smoking."

In the study of comparing  e-cigarette and  replacement therapy, there are few obvious side effects.

In the first two years,  e-cigarettes will stimulate the user's throat or mouth, headache, cough and nausea.

However, these effects seem to diminish over time.

Michel Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, said: "We welcome this report, which adds more and more evidence that e-cigarettes are an effective tool for smoking cessation.".

"We strongly oppose those who never smoke to use electronic cigarettes, especially young people."

"This is because they are relatively new products, and we do not know the long-term impact on health."

She added: Although the long-term effects of electronic cigarettes are still unknown, the harmful effects of smoking are indisputable - smoking causes about 55000 deaths from cancer in the UK every year.

"The UK Cancer Research Center supports the UK government to carry out balanced evidence-based regulation of e-cigarettes, maximize the potential of e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking, and minimize the risk of smoking e-cigarettes."

The researchers concluded that more evidence is needed to help more people quit smoking, especially the evidence that the new electronic cigarette has better  release effect than the early electronic cigarette.

They said that more long-term data were needed.

The independent expert said that the results should reassure smokers that electronic cigarettes can help them quit smoking.

Dr Sarah Jackson, chief researcher of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at University College London, said: E-cigarettes are very popular among smokers who want to quit smoking. In the UK, one in every three attempts to quit smoking involves E-cigarettes.

"More and more experiments have tested whether electronic cigarettes can make smokers easier to quit successfully. This review provides the strictest and latest summary of this evidence."

"With more available data than before, the author concludes that there is now high-quality evidence that electronic cigarettes are more effective than traditional replacement therapy (such as patches and chewing gum) in helping people quit smoking."

"These findings were made after the recent review of the hazards of electronic cigarettes, which showed clear evidence that electronic cigarettes only caused a small part of the health risks of smoking."

"In general, these reports should reassure smokers that electronic cigarettes are safer to use and can increase the chances of quitting smoking."