E-cigarettes may be able to help quit smoking

A new study by Dennis Nowak et al. has concluded that E-cigarettes are likely to terminate smoking and may just be able to lessen the risk of nicotine dependency in high-risk groups.

Researchers performed a systematic literature search for data on e-cigarettes' mechanism of action, their emissions, how they are seen by groups of potential users, their efficacy in smoking cessation, and their addiction potential.

According to an international survey e-cigarettes were used by younger people, those with higher incomes, and heavier smokers in particular, and among the users, 85 percent reported that they used them to stop smoking.

The available scientific evidence, however, remains insufficient as only two controlled trials show e-cigarettes as having similar effects to nicotine replacement therapies as smoking cessation aids, and the authors call for more randomized trials to be conducted.

The study was published in the journal Deutsches Arzteblatt International.