Oxford University experts have found high certainty evidence: e-cigarettes help quit smoking

According to foreign reports, today influential researchers released a report stating that e-cigarettes are superior to nicotine replacement patches and chewing gum in helping smokers quit smoking.
Researchers from the University of Oxford have found that smokers who use e-cigarettes are twice as likely to quit smoking for six months as other smokers.
Cancer experts welcome this report as it adds increasing evidence that e-cigarettes are an effective smoking cessation tool.
But they warn non-smokers not to smoke e-cigarettes, as they are a relatively new product and we are not yet aware of their long-term health effects.
Dr. Nicola Lindson, a psychologist at the university, stated that these products only bring a small portion of the smoking risk, but are not risk-free.
Currently, the NHS suggests that e-cigarettes can help smokers, even though they are not prescription drugs.
But if the government's plan is implemented, the UK will become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to help smokers quit smoking.
The number of people using e-cigarettes in the UK has more than doubled this year, from 4% in 2021 to 8.6% in 2022.
Approximately 5% of American adults use e-cigarettes.
The recent surge in popularity is mainly driven by young people who smoke e-cigarettes, which has attracted the attention of some experts.
Earlier this month, respiratory pediatricians told the Daily Mail that color devices need to have cigarette style graphic warnings attached to them.
Despite concerns about children's use, Dr. Lindson said: e-cigarettes do not burn tobacco; Therefore, they do not expose users to complex chemical mixtures that can cause diseases in people who smoke traditional cigarettes.
"Electronic cigarettes are not without risks, and people who do not smoke or have no smoking risk should not use them. However, there is evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes containing nicotine only bring a small portion of the smoking risk."
This 290 page Cochrane review includes 78 studies involving over 22000 participants, with an additional 22 studies added since the last update in 2021.
They reviewed data on smokers attempting to quit smoking and compared their success with e-cigarettes and other therapies over a six-month period.
This includes nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches and chewing gum, Vanilla, a drug that helps people quit smoking, and nicotine and non nicotine e-cigarettes.
Some studies have also compared these success rates with the lack of smoking cessation support.
The researchers also studied studies investigating the side effects of treatment after at least one week of use.
The results show that if 6 out of 100 people quit smoking by using nicotine replacement therapy, then 8 to 12 people will quit smoking by using e-cigarettes containing nicotine.
This means that 2 to 6 out of every 100 people may use e-cigarettes containing nicotine to quit smoking.
The evidence also suggests that e-cigarettes containing nicotine have a higher smoking cessation rate than e-cigarettes without nicotine, or there is no smoking cessation intervention, but there is limited data available to aid in these analyses.
Dr. Jamie Hartmann Boyce, the main author, said that since its launch over a decade ago, e-cigarettes have caused many misunderstandings in the public health community and mass media.
"This is the first time that it provides us with highly conclusive evidence that e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or chewing gum in helping people quit smoking."
In studies comparing nicotine e-cigarettes with nicotine replacement therapy, there have been few significant side effects.
In the first two years, nicotine e-cigarettes can irritate the user's throat or mouth, cause headaches, coughing, and nausea.
However, these impacts seem to weaken over time.
Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, said: "We welcome this report as it adds increasing evidence that e-cigarettes are an effective smoking cessation tool.".
"We strongly oppose those who never smoke using e-cigarettes, especially young people."
"This is because they are a relatively new product and we are not yet aware of their long-term health effects."
She added that although the long-term effects of e-cigarettes are still unknown, the harmful effects of smoking are indisputable - smoking causes approximately 55000 cancer deaths in the UK every year.
"The UK Cancer Research Centre supports the UK government's balanced evidence-based regulation of e-cigarettes, maximizing the potential of e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking while minimizing the risk of e-cigarette consumption."
Researchers have concluded that more evidence is needed to help more people quit smoking, especially evidence that new e-cigarettes have better nicotine release effects than early e-cigarettes.
They said that longer-term data is needed.
Independent experts suggest that this result should reassure smokers that e-cigarettes can help them quit smoking.
Dr. Sarah Jackson, Chief Researcher of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at University College London, said that 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.
"An increasing number of experiments have tested whether e-cigarettes can make it easier for smokers to successfully quit smoking. This review provides the strictest and most recent summary of this evidence."
"With more available data than before, the author concludes that there is now high-quality evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies (such as nicotine patches and chewing gum) in helping people quit smoking."
"These findings were made after a recent review of the hazards of e-cigarettes, which showed clear evidence that e-cigarettes only pose a small portion of smoking health risks."
"Overall, these reports should reassure smokers that e-cigarettes are safer to use and can increase the chances of quitting smoking."