'E-cigarettes won't help you quit smoking'

People who use electronic cigarettes do not report higher rates of quitting than regular cigarette smokers, according to a US study out Monday. The findings were based on survey answers from 949 smokers, reported in a research letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. Just over 13 percent of the people in the study reported quitting smoking within one year. E-cigarette use 'did not significantly predict quitting one year later,' said the letter, written by three researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

Among participants who reported using both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes, e-cigarette use was not associated with a change in cigarette consumption, it added. The fact that there were so few e-cigarette users in the study -- just 88, and nine of whom quit -- may have made any trends more difficult to spot, said the letter. (Read: Are electronic cigarettes actually safe for you?)

'Nonetheless, our data add to current evidence that e-cigarettes may not increase rates of smoking cessation,' it said. 'Regulations should prohibit advertising claiming or suggesting that e-cigarettes are effective smoking cessation devices until claims are supported by scientific evidence.' E-cigarettes deliver nicotine through a vapor, and are currently not regulated by health authorities in the United States. (Read: Need guidelines on e-cigarette: WHO)

What's an e-cig?

An electronic cigarette is a device that mimics the entire smoking process by producing a mist which has the same sensation (sometimes the same flavour too) of smoking. The concept of an electronic cigarette has been around since the 60s but tobacco consumption wasn't really considered hazardous back then and it took until 2003 for the first smokeless e-cigarette to hit the market.

Electronic cigarettes manufacturers claim that they are like real cigarettes except that there are no hazardous health implications because there is no combustion, no tobacco and no smoking. Also since there is no passive smoking, second hand smoke and pollution due to butt litter or smoke. (Read: Electronic Cigarettes what are they?)

With inputs from AFP

Image source: AFP

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