Any randomized clinical trials showing that e-cigs help smokers quit?

[spicyed]

The thing is, e-cigs are not a cessation method. They are an alternative to smoking which I would say is less harmful and easier to stop using. Any claims that they are a cessation method are unfounded and could get the company claiming that in trouble with the FDA for claiming that.

The FDA recognizes e-liquid as a tobacco product and will regulate it in the future as such, not as a cessation method so any trial will likely not come from the USA.

 

[mlinky]

In talking about safety, you are ignoring harm reduction. Do you have any reason to think that cigarettes are a safer alternative than e-cigs? http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/centers-institutes/population-development/files/article.jphp.pdf

 

[thepassionofchad]

I quit the first day i got my inferno, although I had only been smoking for a year. That lasted three months until i moved (massive amount of stress) and said hey.... one real cigarette wouldn't hurt. That led to another, and another, and another. Now I'm trying to get back on the ecig.

 

[wv2win]

Okay...so it sounds like the answer is "no", there are no randomized trials of e-cigs assessing their safety and efficecy for smoking cessation in comparison with other treatments. Not one published comparative study. Maybe thats why health professionals are hesitant to recommend them to the public?

Both my doctor and dentist recommend them to their smoking patients regularly.

 

[Iffy]

Whoa... wait a minute... I need a bullet proof double blind study to explain how I went from a 45 year, 2 PaD smoker to a first vape/no more 'bakky ex-smoker?

 

[Survivors Mom]

Pardon me while I look for my doctor's or the FDA's seal of approval on an old pack of cigarettes.

 

[Bethzilla]

So I just want to comment that our individual, personal experience, powerful though it is, is considered to be 'anecdotal evidence' in scientific terms. The OP asked about scientific evidence, which is a perfectly good question. We should not be bashing the OP for asking a perfectly good question, OK?

Moreover, safety is not an all-or-nothing issue. There are shades of grey. Safer than cigarettes in the short term I trust vaping to be, but we know NOTHING about long term (decade after decade) effects.

 

[swedishfish]

Actually, they asked if there were studies done. People just posted links to some of the studies that were done, and the links were criticized. He would have probably saved us all a bit of time and effort if they would have done a quick board search him/herself.

I don't think anyone here was up for a debate, they were just trying to be helpful posting some links.

This is from the very first page of the forum:

Are ecigarettes healthier ?
No one can say because there are no long-term clinical trials or any other research that could verify or disprove such a statement. More importantly, it may be extremely difficult to show that e-cigarettes are idisputably healthier for around 25 years - because all users of electronic cigarettes were previously smokers, and are still likely to suffer from smoking-related diseases, though to a lesser extent. Ex-smokers can still die from smoking-related diseases although their risk diminishes with time.


There's a whole section with information available

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/health-medical-issues/

 

[Spazmelda]

I believe the Italian research group has several more studies in the works, and I know at least a few more researchers are currently conducting studies. I think that more and more will be coming out in the coming year or two.

Meanwhile, as they were just invented in 2003 and I'd rather not smoke cigarettes for decades while the appropriate evidence is collected and analyzed, I used (what I feel to be) common sense to make my decision. When I heard that the FDA found 'bad things' I went and read the papers and realized the data was actually pretty favorable towards e-cigs when compared to cigarettes, with the specific compounds tested for being found at levels about equal with nicotine gum and patches, and orders of magnitude less than cigarettes. The FDA's doom and gloom spin is not supported by their data (shoddy though it is).

The Italian study, while a proof of concept only, does suggest that e-cigs show a lot of promise to work as smoking cessation or replacement tools. Does that need to be studied further? Yes, and they plan on it. But their study does begin to support the anecdotal evidence seen all over these boards.

 

[Iffy]

We should not be bashing the OP for asking a perfectly good question, OK?

Ummm... I don't think anyone has really been bashing. It's just that "randomized clinical trials" is kinda humorous when ya stop and think about the phrase; especially when most of us are 'bakky free via vaping!

It's kinda like a Protestant walking away from Lourdes cured... who woulda thunk...?

 

[mafig]

i am a habitual user of analogs for over 30 yrs..if i dont vape i still be using analogs..tried everything to wean away from analogs but all failed until i started on e-cig..took me quite awhile be4 i totally gave analog the boottttttt..now so happy vaping and hopefully recover from some of my illnesses due to smoking..no more coughing or phlegm and my senses like taste and smell returns..just hope nothing will stop me using e-cig now or in the future(am aware of tainted e-liquid,i read here)..all the $$ spend is worth every cent on vaping gadgets & accessories..only wish i started when e-cig was invented..now in my 8th months non-stop vaping.. happy vaping every1 regards mafig