Nicotine e-cigarettes outperform patches for quitting smoking

A major international review has concluded that nicotine e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies such as patches and gum for helping people quit smoking. The analysis, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, synthesized data from 80 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 30,000 smokers worldwide. The review found high-certainty evidence that using nicotine e-cigarettes increases the chances of successfully quitting smoking for at least six months by about 60 percent compared to nicotine replacement therapy. In practical terms, this means that while about six out of every 100 smokers might quit using conventional aids like patches or gum, that number rises to approximately ten per 100 when using regulated nicotine e-cigarettes. The devices were also found to be more effective than non-nicotine alternatives or behavioral support alone. Dr. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, a senior author of the review from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, stated that the evidence is clear and robust.