Nicotine e-cigarettes help 4 more per 100 quit

Four more people per 100 quit smoking with nicotine e-cigarettes than with patches or gum, according to an updated Cochrane review. Behind that compact number are 80 randomized controlled trials involving 29,861 participants, including 9 studies added in the latest update.

The comparison is with nicotine replacement therapy, or NRT — treatments such as nicotine patches and gum that supply nicotine without tobacco smoke. The review found high-certainty evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes produced higher quit rates than NRT. They also led to about 2 more quitters per 100 than e-cigarettes without nicotine.

The advantage extended to comparisons with no support or behavioral help, including individual counseling and group programs, when people were also given e-cigarettes. That evidence was less certain because of risks of bias in the study designs. The authors say nicotine e-cigarettes are not risk-free, but found no evidence of increased serious harm from using them to quit; longer-term studies are still needed.

So what, concretely? For someone who still smokes and has already failed with patches, gum or other approaches, a regulated nicotine e-cigarette offers another option to try. Dr. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce of the University of Massachusetts Amherst describes the switch as a transition to a lower-harm product, not necessarily the endpoint: the longer-term goal may be to quit vaping and nicotine altogether.

The boundaries matter. These findings concern regulated nicotine devices; illicit products or those containing other substances, such as THC, may carry different risks. Major health organizations caution that e-cigarettes expose users to nicotine and other chemicals, while concerns remain about youth nicotine addiction; people seeking to quit should contact stop-smoking services or clinicians. Lists of regulated devices are available from the FDA in the United States and the MHRA in the United Kingdom.