People who use an e-cigarette while continuing to smoke traditional cigarettes are less likely to be able to quit smoking than those who only smoke or vape initially (AFP / Fred TANNEAU)
People who use an e-cigarette while continuing to smoke traditional cigarettes are less likely to be able to quit tobacco than those who only smoke or vape initially, according to a study published Wednesday.
Over time, most of these “dual users” tend to return to their regular cigarette smoking, according to this study published in the journal ERJ Open Research.
The authors reviewed existing research on e-cigarette and traditional cigarette users and combined the results.
After 4 to 8 months, among people practicing double consumption, only 3% managed to do without nicotine products, compared to 8% of exclusive vapers and 6% of classic cigarette smokers.
After 8 to 16 months, only 5% of dual users go without nicotine, compared to 7% of traditional cigarette smokers and 19% of vapers.
These abstinence levels are respectively, after 16 to 24 months, 13% for dual users, compared to 17% for smokers of classic cigarettes and 26% of exclusive vapers.
In addition, according to the study, “most of those who combined vaping and classic cigarettes returned to exclusive smoking, with a regular increase: 30% after 4 to 8 months, then 47% after 8 to 16 months and finally 58% after 16 to 24 months.
“Widely marketed as healthier alternatives to traditional smoking, e-cigarettes have gained popularity among people trying to quit smoking,” observes Josef Hamoud, research assistant at Göttingen University Medical Center in Germany and editor of the study.
But some use them while continuing to smoke classic cigarettes, while studies have provided “worrying results” on this dual use, summarizes Mr. Hamoud, recalling that in addition, we “still know a lot about the effects long-term impact of vaping on health.
In strong commercial growth for ten years, the electronic cigarette does not contain tobacco but a liquid, generally loaded with nicotine and inhaled in the form of vapor.
There is no tar or carbon monoxide, which are responsible for cancers and cardiovascular diseases linked to smoking. The risks are, therefore, a priori much lower.
But the WHO and anti-smoking associations refuse, in the name of the precautionary principle and pending studies reaching a consensus, to affirm that vaping is less risky than cigarettes.
