The electronic cigarette is one of the most effective ways to quit smoking.
This is confirmed from study to study: the electronic cigarette, less harmful than tobacco, helps to quit smoking. In a new try, four researchers from University College London (England) analyzed the quitting attempts of 19,000 smokers. Everyone had already tried to quit at least once.
The most effective means of quitting smoking were electronic cigarettes and varenicline (Champix), with respectively 95% and 82% higher success rates for their users compared to those who took nothing. Next come nicotine substitutes (patches, chewing gum, sprays, etc.), which record an additional success rate of 34%. Some products worked better on young people than on older people, and vice versa.
“The earlier smokers quit, the more beneficial the withdrawal”
However, the electronic cigarette and varenicline are not spontaneously favored by smokers. Within the cohort, 36% of participants preferred nicotine replacement therapy. Next come electronic cigarettes (12.7% of users), varenicline (5.5%) and behavioral therapies (4.6%).
“Quitting smoking reduces the risk of chronic disease and increases life expectancy,” the researchers conclude in their study. “The earlier smokers quit, the more beneficial withdrawal is. And those who quit early in their adult life avoid almost all excess mortality and regain an average of 10 years of life expectancy,” they add.
Side effects
Note however that the electronic cigarette is not a neutral product for health. It also promotes, according to many recent studies, wheezing, fungi in the mouth, the transition to smoking in adolescents, lung cancer and heart attacks.
Varenicline causes many side effects, such as nausea, insomnia, headaches, increased or decreased appetite, etc.
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