Home E Cigarette Research E-Cigarettes Are THE Best way To Quit Smoking Says University Report

E-Cigarettes Are THE Best way To Quit Smoking Says University Report

June 27, 2018

With The Right Vape Kit And E-Liquid Smokers Can Make the Switch

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of East Anglia proves vaping is the best way to quit smoking and to stay off the cancer sticks for good.

Whilst most of us who have made the switch successfully know this anecdotally – it’s research such as this that increases the pressure on the Government and health organizations to recognize vaping as exactly what it is – life saving and life changing.

The study received £40,000 worth of funding from Cancer Research UK – a real supporter of the benefits of e-cigarettes and received input from chair of the New Nicotine Alliance Sarah Jakes.

The researchers held detailed and extensive interviews with 40 ex smokers now vapers and had to literally turn away hundreds more given the sheer amount of people wanting to take part.

Key to the study was the understanding of the misplaced belief that vaping led to the “renormalisation of smoking type behaviours” – which could lead to a smoker’s ‘relapse’ as in returning to smoking.

The research paper found this was indeed not the case and showed that if anything vaping and e-cigarettes leads to long term smokers quitting full stop.

It’s Important To Get The Right Kit and E-Liquid!

The team led by Dr Caitlin Notley found that smokers were far more likely to fail at quit attempts if they bought cheaper e-cigarette devices with little or no advice from staff in shops other than vape shops.

One of those interviewed said:

…just picking up an e-cigarette from a newsagent and taking a puff and thinking no, that’s no good, isn’t the end of the story, because there are different brands, different tastes, different strengths and flavours, you can get it right, and it can be a substitute.

The study agrees adding:

Through trialing different setups, most people in our sample had eventually achieved abstinence by getting the right vaping setup and learning to vape in patterns that met their needs.

For some, this was a personal quest and a process of trial and error, whereas others sought support from other vapers, forums or vape shops.

The team also found different ways that smokers tried vaping calling them:

Accidental quitters: tried vaping on a whim or trying a friends
Purposeful quitters: actively using e-cigarettes to quit smoking
Switching: easily make the switch from smoking to vaping
Sliding: dual users gradually quitting tobacco all together

Dr Notley said the team will continue gathering more evidence adding:

The really interesting thing we found was that vaping may also encourage people who don’t even want to stop smoking, to eventually quit.

These were our accidental quitters, they hadn’t intended to quit smoking and had tried vaping on a whim, or because they had been offered it by friends.

They went on to like it, and only then saw it as a potential substitute for smoking.

Sarah Jakes from the NNA said:

I was a smoker up until about five years ago, when I quit and changed to vaping. I began vaping becuase I got a new car and didn’t want to fill it with the smell of smoke, so bought a vape.

After two weeks I realised I didn’t even want to smoke. I preferred the smell and sensation of vaping, and I knew it was a lot healthier for me.

My lung capacity has improved so much since I started vaping. Exercise is easier, I can breathe easier, and I don’t have the morning smoker’s cough. In a recent exam, my lung health has returned to that of a never smoker.

Friends of mine have also turned to vaping, and I’d say I now know more vapers than smokers.