A study published yesterday, Wednesday, showed that people who use e-cigarettes while continuing to smoke traditional cigarettes are less likely to quit smoking than those who use one type of cigarette.
Over time, most “smokers of both types of cigarettes” tend to return to using traditional cigarettes, according to the study published in the journal “IRJ Open Research.”
The study authors reviewed existing research on e-cigarette and traditional cigarette users and combined the results.
After 4 to 8 months, only 3% of consumers of both types of cigarettes were able to give up them, compared to only 8% of e-cigarette smokers and 6% of traditional cigarette smokers.
After 8 to 16 months, only 5% of users of both types quit smoking, compared to 7% of traditional cigarette smokers and 19% of e-cigarette users.
Smoking cessation rates after 16 to 24 months were 13% among users of both types, 17% among smokers of traditional cigarettes, and 26% among smokers of e-cigarettes exclusively.
According to the study, “most smokers of both electronic and traditional cigarettes returned to traditional smoking only, with a continuous increase of 30% after 4 to 8 months, then 47% after 8 to 16 months, and 58% after 16 to 24 months.”
popularity
“E-cigarettes, which are widely promoted as healthy alternatives to traditional smoking, have gained popularity among people trying to quit smoking,” said Joseph Hammoud, a research assistant at the University of Göttingen Medical Center in Germany and author of the study.
But some people use them while continuing to smoke regular cigarettes, while a number of studies have reached “worrying results” regarding the use of both types, according to Hammoud.
“We still don’t know a lot about the long-term effects of e-cigarettes on health,” he added.
E-cigarettes, which have witnessed strong commercial growth for 10 years, do not contain tobacco, but rather a liquid that generally contains nicotine, and is inhaled in the form of vapor.
Since it does not contain the tar or carbon monoxide that are responsible for cancer and cardiovascular disease associated with smoking, its risks are much lower than those of regular cigarettes.
However, the World Health Organization and anti-smoking associations refuse to confirm that electronic smoking is less dangerous than cigarettes, pending unanimous results of studies.