Electronic cigarettes may help nine out of 10 smokers kick the habit

Many smokers who have tried to quit smoking and not succeeded wonder if electronic cigarettes might be able to help them

finally break what might be a habit of a lifetime.

Other smoking cessation aids such as nicotine patches and gum only satisfy the nicotine cravings, but electronic cigarettes not only achieve this, but also enable the smoker to enjoy the feel of a lighted cigarette in their hand and mouth.

This helps beat the discomfort which smokers trying to quit can feel when they are left empty-handed after trying to quit smoking.

A recent study has found that as many as 700,000 people in Britain now use electronic cigarettes – and just 6 per cent use them as a means of being able to “smoke” in public; which means huge numbers of smokers have now become “vapers” in order to either cut back on tobacco use or quit smoking altogether.

The study by the University of East London and colleagues at other research institutions also found that smokers who switched to electronic cigarettes found that within a few weeks their health had improved, with fewer bouts of breathlessness and coughing.

Some health experts believe that smokers who quit altogether can experience a return to lung health and function within around seven to 10 years of giving up tobacco – even if they have been long-term smokers.

Ex-smokers who quit tobacco will also have a much lower risk of tobacco-related diseases over time, if they manage to kick the habit totally.

The new study concludes that electronic cigarettes can help as many as nine out of 10 smokers quit tobacco completely – and some smokers who start to use electronic cigarettes without intending to give up completely actually find that they quit their tobacco habit either altogether or much more quickly than they anticipated.

As many as one million people could have switched to e-cigarettes by the end of 2013 alone – and the study found that 86% of people who use electronic cigarettes had not smoked tobacco since they began using e-cigs.

Around 75% of “vapers” said they had switched to e-cigarettes with the aim of quitting smoking tobacco.

In the USA, it is anticipated that by the end of this decade, more people will use electronic cigarettes than tobacco products, which will have huge impact on the tobacco industry.

The EU is currently reviewing the Tobacco Products Directive and one proposal is to limit the amount of nicotine in electronic cigarettes to just 4mg.

This has provoked a backlash among both consumers and some public health experts.

The main concern among researchers and physicians is that the safety of e-cigarettes has not been investigated.

However, to date, since e-cigarettes came to market in 2003, there has not been any reported death among those who use them – whereas 6 million people die from tobacco-related diseases every year.

Professor John Britton from the Royal College of Surgeons says that one of the main concerns surrounding electronic cigarettes is any risks posed by imports which might not have been manufactured safely.

“The more reputable companies are manufacturing to the same standard as the pharmaceutical industry, but many are just imported blind from other countries,” says Prof Britton.

However, smokers who use tobacco face similar health risks with cheap or counterfeit cigarettes, as sometimes contain toxic materials mixed with tobacco – including asbestos materials.

Prof Britton also raises a concern regarding the vapour which delivers the nicotine in electronic cigarettes.
“We don’t know what else is in the vapour. There are other chemicals which allow the nicotine to form droplets, disperse the nicotine, and we don’t know how harmful these solutions are.”
The vapour which delivers nicotine in electronic cigarettes usually comprises propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine, which have been used extensively in inhalers and also have medical and cosmetic uses, including in products like wet wipes – and vegetable glycerine is also used as a sweetener.
The EU’s proposals to regulate e-cigarettes as medicinal products may cause many smokers to return to smoking – with all the known health risks that involves, including the health risk from the counterfeit brands of cigarettes which are flooding the marketplace.

Electronic cigarettes are known to greatly reduce levels of cancer causing chemicals such as nitrosamines, and also produce lower levels of carbon monoxide compared with tobacco products. E-cigarettes also do not produce carcinogenic smoke or tar – meaning reduced dangers for non-smokers from passive smoking.

E-cigarettes have helped most people who have used them quit tobacco and regain their health – and using electronic cigarettes can cut the cost of smoking, with starter kits available from £10-£20. A nicotine refill can provide the equivalent of around 40 cigarettes at a cost of around £5. Many leading brands of cigarette can now cost around £8.50 for a packet of 20 – and the price seems to spiral upwards with every budget. Electronic cigarettes can not only help smokers kick the tobacco habit – they can also help make your bank balance healthier.