A growing body of evidence shows that e-cigarettes are much safer than smoking and the most effective cessation tool available. In fact, these conclusions are so strongly supported by the data that some experts “do not expect further evidence to change these results.” That’s according to the Cochrane Collaboration, an international group of 30,000 scientists that publishes high-quality reviews of the evidence on a range of public health topics.
Cochrane recently published an update to its ongoing review of the evidence on nicotine vaping as a smoking cessation strategy. Reviewers examined 319 studies involving nearly 160,000 adults who smoked. Compared to several prescription medications and nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), vaping was the most effective intervention. They summarized their results this way:
“E-cigarettes were found to help about 14 out of 100 smokers quit smoking long-term, compared with 6 out of 100 who try to quit smoking without any of the quit smoking aids studied… The review estimates that About 12 out of 100 people using two forms of NRT together will quit successfully, compared to about 9 out of 100 people using just one type.”
Cessation among smokers who switched to vaping (which ranged from 10 to 19 successful quit attempts per 100 people) appears to be increasing rapidly. The previous Cochrane review, published just 10 months ago, found that somewhere between eight and 12 smokers who try vaping end up quitting.
Importantly, Cochrane did not include any research published after April 2022. This was necessary to allow authors sufficient time to review all included studies; However, well-designed research published since that cutoff date has shown that vaping promotes cessation even when smokers have little interest in quitting and do not receive guidance from a doctor or other healthcare professional.
Although the Cochrane authors recommended that more research be done, there was no evidence of serious adverse events (SAEs) related to vaping in any of the 319 studies they evaluated. Anyone who claims that vaping nicotine poses serious health risks is not basing that conclusion on available science.
Even public health groups that discourage adults who smoke from using e-cigarettes, such as the American Lung Association, have admitted that they carry significantly fewer health risks than cigarettes.
The press loves to publish scary stories about e-cigarettes. From EVALI to “popcorn lung” and even erectile dysfunction, reporters have amplified every false narrative about nicotine vapes, severely misleading people who smoke about a product that could save their lives. But when a widely respected public health institution publishes “high-certainty evidence” that vaping promotes cessation, the press has almost nothing to say.
Media coverage of the Cochrane review has been scarce until now. It was up to some American regional media outlets to report the results. As of this writing, no major media outlet – CNN, Associated Press, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS – has published a single word about the criticism. Why the media wouldn’t want to tell smokers about a technology that could prolong their lives and improve their health is beyond me.
For now, it is up to informed consumers and alternative media outlets to tell the truth about nicotine vaping.