Can E-Cigarettes help you quit smoking?

Although my first post focuses more on the E-cigarette industry as a whole and it's marketing to the youth, there is something to say about the potential the product has to help an already addicted smoker kick the habit. Due to a lack of FDA testing on the health effects of e-liquid, many remain unsure about whether or not they are as beneficial as they are marketed to be. Vapor alternatives have exploded on the scene with the promise that they cause significantly less damage to the lungs than cigarettes, with that promise in part being true.

Courtesy of : Mistic Ecig Blog

Looking at my personal experience with E-cigarettes, there are a few benefits you notice right off the bat; a significant decrease in coughing, it left no odor on my breath or clothing, and tasted much much better overall. Yet a recent CBS News report on a study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco that revealed that E-cigarettes have no actual impact on smoking cessation. The article goes on further to cite a survey conducted by the CDC (2011-12) that showed evidence of electronic cigarettes actually increasing the chance for tobacco consumption in middle school students.

 On the other hand, electronic cigarette smokers do report similar benefits to mine in their health after making the switch. A improvement in breathing, decrease in coughing, and loss of stains and odors on the hands and teeth are changes usually noticed after stopping tobacco use. One valuable aspect of electronic cigarettes that separate them from quit aids like patches and gum is simply its design. In an interview on Discovery Health, Dr. Douglas Jorenby discusses methods to curb cravings for nicotine, one being to occupy your hands. What an electronic cigarette does is provide the ability to administer nicotine while also creating the physical illusion of smoking. This makes them a unique tool to help smokers quit, as they manage to curb cravings in two ways at once.

So can e-cigarettes help you quit smoking? The argument is still far from decided and will continue that way until time and funding is dedicated to researching the health effects of e-liquid. I and the rest of the world currently know too little about the long-term effects vapor inhalation and the dangers of liquid nicotine to weigh in properly as of yet. What is true however is that these products can offer a means to breaking the addiction altogether, given the right circumstances.