Quitting an addiction is never easy.
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, explores one new way to try.
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce is an Assistant Professor of Health Promotion and Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research mainly consists of applied evidence synthesis for health policy, including in the areas of tobacco control, electronic cigarettes, diet, physical activity, and management of long-term conditions. She works closely with Cochrane and leads a number of research programs focusing on smoking cessation and electronic cigarettes. She is passionate about communicating complex information and data to inform policy and public action.
Best Ways to Quit Vaping
Vapes – also known as electronic cigarettes – are hand-held devices that heat liquid that contains a mix of flavors and, often, nicotine. Lots of people who vape are interested in quitting, but nicotine is addictive, and quitting nicotine vapes can be difficult. We set out to review the evidence on the best ways to help people quit vaping.
We found nine studies, including over 5,000 participants. Studies tested nicotine replacement therapy, cytisine and varenicline – all medications that are effective for helping people stop smoking. Studies also tested a text message-based intervention for young people, and a plan to help people reduce the nicotine in their vapes.
We found some evidence that a text-message based intervention may help youth and young adults stop vaping nicotine. We do not know whether we would find the same results for other text message-based interventions or in older adults. We also found some evidence that the medication varenicline may help people to stop vaping nicotine, but this was just in one study, and more evidence is needed. Varenicline is available via prescription. It helps by blocking the rewarding effects of nicotine.
There was not enough information to say whether any of the other interventions helped people to stop vaping long-term.
There are stories in the news of people turning to cigarettes in order to quit vaping. No studies test this, because vaping nicotine is substantially less dangerous than smoking traditional cigarettes. Evidence is clear that no one should start smoking as a way to quit vaping. Most of the harms that come from smoking come from burning tobacco. Electronic cigarettes don’t contain tobacco leaf, and vaping doesn’t involve burning anything.
Lots of people want to know how to safely and effectively quit vaping. More studies of evidence-based interventions for quitting vaping are underway. Through a process called a living systematic review, we will keep looking for new studies and updating our review when important new findings emerge.
Read More:
[Cochrane] – What are the best ways to help people to stop vaping nicotine and do they have any unwanted effects?
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