Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Do E-cigs Really Help You Stop Smoking?


You know how they always say that e-cigs has helped many people quit their smoking habit? Well, it seems there's scientific evidence to support that claim. In 2013, a group of researchers did a 12-month randomized controlled study on 300 smokers who had no plans of quitting. Here are the results of the study:
Declines in cig/day use and eCO levels were observed at each study visits in all three study groups (p<0.001 vs baseline), with no consistent differences among study groups. Smoking reduction was documented in 22.3% and 10.3% at week-12 and week-52 respectively. Complete abstinence from tobacco smoking was documented in 10.7% and 8.7% at week-12 and week-52 respectively.

The takeaway from this technical mumbo-jumbo is that a significant number of smokers who participated in the study went on to completely abstain from tobacco after a year of using e-cigarettes in a controlled manner. It's interesting to note that these smokers didn't want to quit at the time they began the study. You can just imagine how much more effective the process could have been if they asked smokers who wanted to quit in the first place.

The significant reduction in cigarette consumption and the enduring tobacco abstinence aren't the only good things to come out of this study. Participants also reported a substantial decrease in side effects and fewer withdrawal symptoms.

Two years after, another group of researchers came along with the same intent: find proof that e-cigarettes have the potential to help smokers reduce their nicotine intake and ultimately end their nicotine addiction altogether.
It should be noted that at the end of T8 follow-up about 53% of participants were still abstinent from tobacco cigarettes (only e-cig users); this cessation rate is higher than the 21% obtained by Adriaens and colleagues at the same time interval. In light of this result, it could be considered that the technical, behavioural, and psychological support offered in our medically assisted training was able to offer a quicker and efficient intervention to help the participants.

All in all, smokers - whether they wanted to quit or not - will eventually stop their smoking habit when they undergo a medically assisted training program on e-cigarette use. The cravings disappear, withdrawal symptoms are less severe, and no overdose incidents are observed. A large number of smokers gradually ended their nicotine dependence and showed significantly fewer biomarkers of cigarette combustion products in the body.

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