On October 15, the Cochrane, an internationally authoritative academic organization for evidence-based medicine, pointed out in its latest research review that over 10,000 adult smokers around the world conducted 50 professional studies proved that e-cigarettes have the effect of smoking cessation, and the effect is better than nicotine replacement therapy and other methods like nicotine patches, nicotine gum, etc.
The Cochrane review pointed out that using nicotine e-cigarettes to quit smoking is better than using nicotine replacement therapy and nicotine-free e-cigarettes.
“Whether e-cigarettes can help effectively quit smoking” has always been a topic of concern. However, due to the incomplete systematic scientific research of domestic electronic cigarettes, it is difficult for the public to know accurate research results in time. This has caused the smoking cessation effect of e-cigarettes to be ignored by many people. Some experts even rejected the smoking cessation effect of e-cigarettes based on prejudice rather than science.
Professor Peter Hajek, a special author of the Cochrane review and director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Group at Queen Mary University of London, said: “This new review on e-cigarettes shows that for many smokers, e-cigarettes are an effective tool for smoking cessation. It is also important to note that for up to two years, these studies have not found any evidence that the use of electronic cigarettes will cause harm to people.”
Compared with other treatments, nicotine e-cigarettes have a higher smoking cessation rate.
Founded in 1993, Cochrane is a non-profit organization named in memory of Archiebald L. Cochrane, the founder of evidence-based medicine. It is also the most authoritative independent evidence-based medical academic organization in the world. So far, it has more than 37,000 volunteers in more than 170 countries.
The so-called evidence-based medicine refers to medicine that follows evidence, which is different from traditional medicine based on empirical medicine. It emphasizes that medical decision-making should be based on the best scientific research evidence. Therefore, evidence-based medicine research will not only conduct large-sample randomized controlled clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis, but also divide the level of evidence obtained according to standards, which is very rigorous.
In this study, Cochrane found a total of 50 studies from 13 countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, involving 12,430 adult smokers. Conclusions show that more people use nicotine e-cigarettes to quit smoking for at least six months compared to using nicotine replacement therapy (such as nicotine patches, nicotine gum) or nicotine-free e-cigarettes.
Reuters reported that Cochrane reviewed the research results: “Vapes more effective to quit smoking than gum or patch, review finds”
Specific to the data, calculated in absolute terms, 10 out of every 100 people who quit smoking using nicotine e-cigarettes are likely to successfully quit smoking; out of every 100 people who quit using nicotine replacement therapy or e-cigarettes without nicotine, only 6 people can quit smoking. Compared with other treatments, nicotine e-cigarettes have a higher rate of quitting smoking.
In response, Caitlin Notley, one of the authors of the review and a professor at the University of East Anglia’s Norwich School of Medicine in the United Kingdom, said: “One of the most effective and widely used strategies to help people quit smoking is to eliminate smoking-related cravings. E-cigarettes and nicotine gums and stickers The agent is different. It mimics the experience of smoking and can provide smokers with nicotine, but will not expose users and others to the smoke of traditional tobacco.”
“Existing evidence shows that compared to other nicotine substitutes, e-cigarettes increase the chances of successfully quitting smoking. The scientific consensus on e-cigarettes is that although e-cigarettes are not completely risk-free, they are far less harmful than cigarettes.” Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Jamie Hartmann-Boyce said. She is also one of the main authors of this research review.
Multiple studies support: 1.3 million people in the UK have successfully quit smoking with e-cigarettes
In fact, in addition to Cochrane, in recent years, many authoritative medical academic organizations in the world have reached the conclusion that “e-cigarettes are more effective in quitting smoking” to varying degrees.
Researchers from New York University in the United States have found that compared with users who have never used e-cigarettes, daily use of e-cigarettes can help smokers to quit smoking in the short-term (<1 year) and long-term (1+ years) 2- 4 times; a researcher from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria pointed out that compared with smokers who received nicotine replacement therapy, the proportion of using e-cigarettes to quit smoking was 1.69 times higher. (The above two research conclusions were published in the industry authoritative journal “Nicotine Tobacco Research”)
As early as last year, an independent study by University College London pointed out that e-cigarettes helped 50,000 to 70,000 cigarette users in the UK to quit smoking every year. The latest report from the Department of Public Health of the United Kingdom also shows that at least 1.3 million people have quit cigarettes completely because of e-cigarettes.
The research results published by University College London in the internationally renowned academic journal Addiction pointed out that e-cigarettes have helped at least 50,000 British smokers to quit smoking successfully a year.
As for the public’s concern about the hazards of e-cigarettes, John Britton, Professor Emeritus of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Nottingham in the UK, said: “The long-term impact on the safety of e-cigarettes needs to be verified for many years, but all evidence now shows that any long-term adverse effects of e-cigarettes are far Smaller than cigarettes.”
Cochrane’s research corroborated his views to a certain extent. During the two-year follow-up period, no evidence was found that electronic cigarettes caused harm to the human body.
Reference materials:
Cochrane：Can electronic cigarettes help people stop smoking, and do they have any unwanted effects when used forthis purpose?
Medical University of Vienna：Effectiveness of Electronic Cigarettes in Smoking Cessation: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
University College London：E-cigarettes may help over 50,000 smokers to quit in England each year
