E-cigarettes 'help more smokers quit'

Research in the British Medical Journal has claimed that the popularity of e-cigarettes may have resulted in more successful attempts to quit smoking.

Looking at trends in quit rates and support in England from 2006 to 2015, via the Smoking Toolkit Study, the research showed that while e-cigarettes seem to have had no effect on the number of people trying to quit, more people have actually managed to stop.

As an observational study, the research cannot prove direct cause and effect, although the authors say vaping may have helped about 18,000 extra people in England successfully give up smoking in 2015. It is believed that e-cigarettes are now used by nearly three million people in the UK, more than those who use nicotine patches and gum as prevention aids.

Electronic cigarettes are not yet widely available on the NHS, with many health professionals remaining convinced that he most effective way to quit smoking remains through prescription medication and professional support from free local NHS stop-smoking services.

Commenting on the results, Dr John Britton, director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham, said: “This significant year-on-year fall indicates that something in UK tobacco control policy is working, and successful quitting through substitution with e-cigarettes is one likely major contributor.”

Prof Linda Bauld, of Cancer Research UK, added: "The British public have voted with their feet and are choosing to use e-cigarettes. This is a positive choice, and we should promote it."