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E-Cigarettes Don't Work as Quit-Smoking Aid
A recent one year study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, of 1,000 California smokers, found that smokers who used e-cigarettes were less likely to quit regular cigarettes than those who hadn't tried the devices. The results of this study coming at a time when vapor devices are being heralded as the most effective way to quit smoking. So, why were these study results different?
The team of researchers found that “smokers who said they had ever used e-cigarettes were about half as likely to cut down on their smoking and 59 percent less likely to quit, compared to those who never used e-cigarettes.” The results are casting doubt on the notion of e-cigarettes as a smoking-cessation aid.
Researchers based their hypothesis on the recent idea that smokers using e-cigarettes to quit smoking would be more successful in quitting altogether, but the “research revealed the contrary."
Patricia Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. commented on the results saying they "confirm the potential harm e-cigarettes cause smokers, in that they may not only result in continued smoking but they may also discourage or delay quit attempts." Folan also believes that "the knowledge gap about electronic cigarettes is currently being filled in large part by e-cigarette industry advertising rather than scientific information."
Researchers hope that these results will help clear the air of the smoke screens that electronic cigarette companies use to lure customers to them with the misrepresentation of a possible smoking cessation device.
