Tobacco: Vaping while still smoking does not help you quit smoking, according to a study

People who use an electronic cigarette while continuing to smoke traditional cigarettes are less likely to be able to quit tobacco than those who initially only smoke or vape, according to a study published this Wednesday, December 4.

Over time, most of these “dual users” tend to return to 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.

Only 5% stop nicotine after 8 to 16 months

After 4 to 8 months, among people who practiced double consumption, only 3% managed to give up nicotine products, compared to 8% of exclusive vapers and 6% of classic cigarette smokers. After 8 to 16 months, only 5% of dual users run out of 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 classic cigarette smokers and 26% for exclusive vapers.

Furthermore, according to the study, “the majority of those who combined vaping and classic cigarettes returned to smoking exclusively, with a regular increase: 30% after 4 to 8 months, then 47% after 8 to 16 months and finally the 58% after 16”. to 24 months.

many unknowns

“Widely marketed as healthier alternatives to traditional smoking, e-cigarettes have gained popularity among people trying to quit smoking,” observes Josef Hamoud, a 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 Josef Hamoud, recalling that, furthermore, “we still do not know much about the long-term health effects of vaping.” .

In strong commercial growth for ten years, the electronic cigarette does not contain tobacco but rather a liquid, generally loaded with nicotine and inhaled in the form of vapor. There is no tar or carbon monoxide, responsible for cancers and cardiovascular diseases related to smoking. The risks are, therefore, a priori much lower.

But the WHO and anti-tobacco associations refuse, in the name of the precautionary principle and waiting for studies to reach a consensus, to affirm that vaping is less risky than cigarettes.