Do Nicotine Patches and Gums Work For Quitting Smoking? Not According to Scientists

Boffins Say Gums and Patches Don’t Work And Are A Waste Of Money!

Vaping is, without doubt, the very best way to quit smoking according to a new study by UK scientists making it 3 times more likely to permanently stub out the cancer sticks.

Almost 19,000 smokers – more than half of which were women, took part in the study that looked at successful quit attempts during a 12 year period between 2006 and 2018.

It showed categorically that e-cigarettes were by far the tool of choice for successfully packing up smoking with the suicide drug Varenicline – know as Chantix – also showing good results at 82%. As an aside, use of Chantix is linked to suicide as well as other horrible effects on the mind and body…I know which one I’d choose.

Titled: Moderators of real‐world effectiveness of smoking cessation aids: a population study – it was conducted by scientists from the University College London and has featured heavily in the mainstream media.

On the whole, it’s been positively reported, accepted by the wider scientific community and shared far and wide on social media. The peer-reviewed research was funded by Cancer Research UK and was published this week in Addiction medical journal.

Co author Dr Sarah Jackson said:

Our study adds to growing evidence that use of e-cigarettes can help smokers to quit.

Stopping smoking has massive health benefits & the sooner a smoker quits the better.

It’s important that every quit attempt has the best possible chance of success.

Our results can help HPs tailor advice on which aids may be most likely to help the user to achieve abstinence.

Scientists Welcome the Report

Dr Debbie Robson, a senior researcher from the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London, not only welcomed the report but said it showed over the counter nicotine replacements were a waste of money – a point that is highlighted below.

She said:

Smokers should also take heed that the millions of pounds they collectively spend each year on buying nicotine replacement therapy such as patches and gum from a shop, may not increase their chance of quitting and they may well be better off investing in alternative nicotine replacement such as e-cigarettes.

Her colleague Dr Leonie Brose went a step further:

This very robust study surveyed almost 19,000 individuals in England who had tried to quit smoking and showed that those who used varenicline or e-cigarettes were most likely to have been successful.

This is in line with what has already been found in randomised controlled trials and extends these findings to adult smokers in the real world.

While success rates were similar for varenicline and vaping, vaping is much more popular among smokers trying to quit smoking and thus helped more smokers quit.

What stands out for me is the fact the majority of smokers have quit using e-cigarettes off their own backs without any support from NHS stop smoking clinics. This chimes perfectly with a recent report that showed smokers were turning away from such services, this has resulted in cuts from government funding.

Our old friend and champion of vaping, Professor Peter Hajek from the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, Queen Mary University of London, said:

The study reports two important findings regarding e-cigarettes.

They help smokers quit at least as much as stop-smoking medications, and they are used by many more smokers.

This means that they generate many more quitters and do this at no cost to the NHS.

Great to see yet another positive endorsement of vaping from scientists and not only proof e-cigarettes are the best way to quit the cancer sticks, but it costs the beleaguered and cash strapped NHS not a single penny.

In fact, vaping creates jobs, boosts the high street and dare I say brings people together both offline at vaper expos, shows and vape meets and also brings together like-minded people from across the world on social media.

Add to that we know vaping is 95% safer than smoking and most importantly it saves lives. I’m glad I live in the UK where thankfully and despite the early knee-jerk reaction implementing our version of the TPD, our government is still reasonably relaxed about vaping in general with a promise to loosen not tighten future regulations.

Once again I have to ask…are you watching America?

Read the study HERE

Leaked Papers Show Big Tobacco and Pharma Knew Nicotine Patches and Gums Don’t Work but Kept Quiet

The tobacco industry has known for years that nicotine patches – gums and sprays hardly ever work and most smokers use them as a bridge when they can’t smoke such as at work or when traveling.

Proof of what most of us suspected comes from a new study carried out by scientists at UC San Francisco – led by long time anti e-cigarette spokesman – Stanton Glantz, PhD.

The study claims that far from ever worrying about so called Nicotine Replacement Therapies threatening the profits of Big Tobacco the companies saw them as ‘business opportunities’.

If that sounds familiar little wonder as Big Tobacco continues its move into the heat not burn and the e-cigarette cig-a-likes market.

The findings of the study were published last week in the American Journal of Public Health and showed how – after digging into confidential internal files of the seven major tobacco companies – it was shown these same companies had been investing in NRTs since the 1950s.

Known as the ‘Tobacco Papers’ [sounds like a conspiracy movie!] the findings blow the lid off the shady dealings of Big Tobacco and Pharma.

Profits Before Health

The main crux of the report finds that the big two knew full well that without support from health care professionals NRTs did not work to get folks to quit smoking.

Back in 1984 the gums – patches and sprays were given the nod of approval as prescription drugs showing vast profits for both Big Pharma and Big Tobacco on over the counter sales.

However way back in 1992 both groups knew full well that unless the NRTs were backed up with counseling and support they did little if anything to help smokers quit.

However Big Tobacco stayed tight lipped about the findings as they were concerned the results would lead to a clampdown by the FDA and so lose them profits.

UCSF’s Dorie Apollonio, PhD, associate professor in clinical pharmacy and lead author of the study said:

It was surprising to discover the industry came to view NRT as just another product. The tobacco companies want people to get nicotine — and they’re open-minded about how they get it.

The report adds:

Over-the-counter availability of NRT made it easy for smokers to get a nicotine fix in non-smoking environments like offices and flights, for example, with the net result that they were less likely to quit.

NRTs – Not a Patch on E-Cigarettes

This news should come as no surprise to those of us who tried patches – gums and those silly sprays.

And it certainly backs up an interesting report from a couple of years ago that in a nutshell proved these kind of NRTs are pretty bloody useless without any consistent professional quit smoking support.

Back in 2014 a team of scientists from the University College London studied the effect NRTs had on 6,000 smokers.

The results showed beyond doubt that when it came to quitting the cancer sticks e-cigarettes were by far the best way showing a 60% more chance of quitting using e-cigs compared to nicotine patches and gums.

At the time lead scientist Professor Robert West said:

Despite what a lot of people think, e-cigarettes are not good news for the tobacco industry and the tobacco industry would like them to go away. They sell tobacco and would like to go on doing that…I don’t and will not take any money from any e-cigarette manufacturer… I need to be able to talk about e-cigarettes without even the conception of conflict of interest.

The more we find out about the so called ‘war on vaping’ the more we realize that Governments – Health Departments and the big corporations are literally lying and hiding behind a smokescreen of ‘health concerns’ when it comes to anything to do with vaping.

As far as I’m concerned the war against vaping has absolutely nothing to do with yours and my health – but everything to do with profits.

Just how low will they go to protect their bottom lines?

Sources:

Science Daily
Guardian

Best Vape Starter Kits and E-cigarettes To Quit Smoking

If you’re a smoker looking to quit, a dual user, as in smoking and vaping, OR want to convince a member of your family or a friend to try vaping, then we have a ton of advice and plenty of reviews and of course tips on what’s the best e-cigarette to buy:

• Good For Beginners
• Best Starter Kits
• Best Pod Kits
• Guide To Nicotine Salt E-liquid and Best Brands
• Beginners Guide To E Cig Tanks + Troubleshoot Your Vape Tank

And remember no matter how silly you think your question might be Jonny, in particular, is always around to answer your questions so comment below or use the contact form…the only silly question is the one not asked 😉