The benefits or disadvantages of using e-cigarettes are still unclear to experts. New research suggests that using e-cigarettes on a daily basis helps smokers to give up cigarettes.
Conflicting Views On E-Cigarettes
The debate regarding the supposed positive and negative effects of e-cigarettes continues. On one hand, researchers have previously found evidence of e-cigarettes being a healthier option than tobacco and even an effective means for ex-smokers to prevent weight gain. On the other hand, others see e-cigarettes as a gateway to using other tobacco products.
Conflicting researches continue to surface, and a new one was just published online, with the researchers' results showing that e-cigarettes actually aid in helping smokers to quit.
An Aid To Quit Smoking
According to researchers from Rutgers School of Public Health and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, using e-cigarettes can actually benefit smokers who are trying to quit the habit. Using data from the 2014 and 2015 National Health Interview Survey, they found that over half of e-cigarette users quit smoking in the last five years, compared with the 28 percent with no history of e-cigarette usage.
Upon looking at the available data, researchers found the single strongest predictor of quitting smoking. As it turns out, daily e-cigarette users are three times more likely to quit smoking compared with non-users of e-cigarettes.
"While questions regarding the efficacy of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation remain, our findings suggest that frequent e-cigarette use may play an important role in cessation or relapse prevention for some smokers," said Daniel Giovenco, Ph.D., of the Mailman School of Public Health, lead author of the study.
Researchers are uncertain as to why non-e-cigarette users were seen to be less likely to quit smoking, but it's possible that the reason for the high quitting rate for e-cigarette users is that they could be using e-cigarettes regularly to prevent relapsing. As of now, they believe further research is needed to better understand this discrepancy between the groups.
What Does This Mean For E-Cigarettes?
Interestingly, another survey about e-cigarettes has just surfaced, this time pertaining to e-cigarettes as a means to eventually lead teenagers to smoking.
It is very likely that many more studies with conflicting results on e-cigarettes will continue to surface, just like the question on whether alcohol consumption benefits the body. If there is perhaps something that many agree upon when it comes to e-cigarettes, it is that users need to be careful with the device in order to avoid burns and accidents.
Results of the study can be found in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
