A new Californian study proves vaping helps smokers quit

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One of the big reasons that vaping is still not completely mainstream is the vilification we experience at the hands of the media. Medical studies are often twisted to present vaping in a bad light, and even health professionals are hesitant to recommend vaping as an alternative to smoking, often citing lack of evidence that vaping actually helps smokers quit.

A recent study from the University of California San Diego may change all that.

The vaping study

The study surveyed over 160,000 people to find out if vaping played a part in them quitting smoking. They found that the smoking cessation rate increased from 4.5% in 2014 to 5.6% in 2015, which is good news all around.

Vapers were more likely to attempt to quit than non-vapers – with 65% of vapers making an attempts, versus only 41% of non-vapers.

But what’s particularly interesting is that the success rate for quitting smoking was higher among vapers. 8.2% of vapers attempting to quit were successful, compared to only 4.8% of non-vapers. (“success” is determined here as not having smoked an ordinary cigarette in over three months).

“Our analysis of the population survey data indicated that smokers who also used e-cigarettes were more likely to attempt to quit smoking, and more likely to succeed,” said Dr. Shu-Hong Zhu, author of the study. “Use of e-cigarettes was associated both with a higher quit rate for individuals as well as at the population level; driving an increase in the overall number of people quitting.”

What this means for vaping

Of course, this is only one study, and the results might be influenced by other factors that don’t relate to vaping. One of the biggest problems with this study was that it didn’t compare the effectiveness of vaping against other methods – only against those who didn’t vape.

However, it’s very promising to see empirical evidence starting to appear, to help with the claims made in the media that there isn’t enough evidence to support vaping as a viable stop smoking method.

Of course, further study is still needed, but it’s encouraging that the medical community and researchers are starting to look more seriously at vaping.

If you’re thinking of quitting smoking, then you might light to give vaping a try. At NZVAPOR we offer safe, quality, accredited products to help you on your path to becoming smokefree. To get started with vaping, try our e-cigarette starter kits for vaping newbies, available on the NZVAPOR website.

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