How Much Evidence Is Enough to Exonerate E-Cigarettes?
Because science builds on itself, it is likely that time is the only thing that will help definitively determine the relative risk and net public health impact of e-cigarettes. We may also find that these values end up differing by product and population. Yes, questions remain about e-cigarettes; however, leaning into the precautionary principle is getting harder. The absolute risk of combustible cigarettes, and thus their harm to public health, is so high that exercising extreme caution with e-cigarettes may be inadvertently harming people who smoke. To benefit public health, perhaps it is time for organizations to begin specifying what evidence they need to exonerate e-cigarettes. It would be a sad day for science if the answer is that no evidence is convincing enough.
Efficacy and Safety of E-Cigarette Use for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials - McGill University
People who smoke conventional cigarettes are increasingly turning to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as a pathway to quitting. However, the efficacy and safety of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation remains controversial. Among individuals attempting to quit smoking, nicotine e-cigarettes are more efficacious than conventional nicotine replacement or behavioral smoking cessation therapies, and may prove beneficial in reducing smoking-related health risks.
Associations between nicotine vaping uptake and cigarette smoking cessation vary by smokers' plans to quit: longitudinal findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys
Uptake of nicotine vaping appears to be strongly associated with cigarette smoking cessation among smokers with no initial plans to quit smoking. Excluding smokers not planning to quit from studies on vaping and smoking cessation may underestimate potential benefit of daily vaping for daily smokers.
An exploratory, randomised, crossover study to investigate the effect of nicotine on cognitive function in healthy adult smokers who use an electronic cigarette after a period of smoking abstinence
Overall, the nicotine containing products improved sustained attention and mood while reducing smoking urges, with the studied e-cigarettes having comparable effects to combustible cigarettes across the assessed cognitive parameters and mood measures. These results demonstrate the potential role of e-cigarettes to provide an acceptable alternative for combustible cigarettes among people who would otherwise continue to smoke.
Forecasting the effects of smoking prevalence scenarios on years of life lost and life expectancy from 2022 to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
According to the research, reducing smoking levels to less than 5% by 2050 could increase global life expectancy by one year for men and by 0.2 years for women. This is equivalent to an additional 735 million healthy years for men and 141 million healthy years for women. Existing tobacco policies must be maintained if smoking prevalence is to continue to decline as forecast by the reference scenario. In addition, substantial smoking-attributable burden can be avoided by accelerating the pace of smoking elimination. Implementation of new tobacco control policies are crucial in avoiding additional smoking-attributable burden in the coming decades and to ensure that the gains won over the past three decades are not lost.
E-Cigarette Characteristics and Cigarette Cessation Among Adults Who Use E-Cigarettes
In this study, daily e-cigarette use and use of e-cigarettes in 2019 to 2021 were consistently associated with greater cigarette discontinuation rates. These findings suggest that research focused on e-cigarettes marketed in recent years is needed to inform product regulation and public health policy decisions.
Effects of interventions to combat tobacco addiction: Cochrane update of 2021 to 2023 reviews
Nicotine replacement therapy (especially patches combined with fast acting forms), varenicline, cytisine, bupropion, nicotine e-cigarettes, behavioural counselling, and financial incentives are all effective ways to help people quit smoking. Quitting smoking improves mental health and reduces cardiovascular events and mortality in people living with cardiovascular disease.
Quitting Strong: New Zealand’s Smoking Cessation Success Story - 2024
New Zealand has halved its smoking rates in just five years by supporting adult smokers to switch to vaping, a new report reveals. Smoking rates in New Zealand are set to dip below five per cent, putting it on the brink of being declared officially ‘smoke free.’ Global health campaign group Smoke Free Sweden says the country presents a compelling case study for the ‘Swedish Model’ of smoking cessation, where safer nicotine alternatives are made readily available to smokers. An important aspect of the success is Government-Endorsed Communication: Challenge and correct misinformation, especially about risk-reduced nicotine products, and nicotine itself. Counterbalance false narratives which confuse adult smokers about relative risks and prolong the smoking epidemic. Most importantly, encourage adults who smoke to quit or switch to less harmful nicotine alternatives.
Cessation of Smoking Trial in the Emergency Department (COSTED): a multi-centre, randomised controlled trial
Giving out free e-cigarette starter packs in hospital emergency departments to people who smoke helps more people quit – according to research from the University of East Anglia. The trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), offered advice, an e-cigarette starter pack and referral to stop smoking services to people attending A&E for any reason, to help them to stop smoking. Six months later, almost one in four people given the starter packs said they had quit smoking. And those who received the packs but didn’t quit altogether, were more likely to have reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked.
E-Cigarette Characteristics and Cigarette Cessation Among Adults Who Use E-Cigarettes
In this study, daily e-cigarette use and use of e-cigarettes in 2019 to 2021 were consistently associated with greater cigarette discontinuation rates. These findings suggest that research focused on e-cigarettes marketed in recent years is needed to inform product regulation and public health policy decisions.
