For decades now, nicotine replacement therapy has been assumed to be one of the more effective smoking cessation tools. With it’s simple step by step and self-regulated nicotine intake, users have found it helping to increase the chance of quitting smoking by between 50 and 70 percent. With a wide range of applications, it has always been thought of as one of the more effective ways of quitting. That is until vaping entered the spotlight. With over ten years of data now available, a study published in January in the New England Journal of Medicine purported that vaping could be up to twice as effective in sustaining smoking cessation than nicotine replacement therapy.
The study
As one of the most well-respected medical journals, it certainly comes as brilliant news for e liquid suppliers and vape developers around the world. With a research team based at London’s Queen Mary University, found that a year of recording a sample of smokers looking to quit led to vaping coming out in favour of Nicotine Replacement Therapy. The study showed that 18 percent of smokers given vaping starter kits had not fallen back into the habit a year on. That is compared to only 10 percent in a sample of smokers given nicotine replacement therapy. This method has differed from past research due to tests comparing the two methodologies using outdated vape devices and NRT applications. With technology and vape devices rapidly being innovated; a lot has changed since those “gold standard” tests from nearly a decade ago.
What is nicotine replacement therapy?
Nicotine replacement therapy is a broader term which includes a range of different oral and skin absorbent smoking cessation applications. These include nicotine gum and nicotine patches, which can be found for varying prices in most supermarkets and pharmacies. These come in a wide range of strengths and flavours, bringing flexibility and accommodating for many levels of nicotine addiction. The intention of these gums, patches or gels, is to help people wean themselves off nicotine, relying on smaller and smaller dosages.
Why is vaping more popular?
So this begs the question, why is vaping having better successes at dissuading smokers? Whilst it is still common for those trying to quit smoking to lapse a few times before they quit for good, what is it that makes vaping more successful?
Same sensation as smoking
One of the main reasons why vaping has become more popular than nicotine replacement therapies is that the sensation is much like that of smoking. You are holding an object, most often cylindrical in shape, and inhaling e liquid flavours through it, making it more enjoyable and far more flexible to your needs.
More sociable
Another aspect that puts vaping above smoking, is that the hobby itself encourages you to meet other vapers and enjoy the support of other ex-smokers. This makes it a lot easier to keep vaping, rather than nicotine replacement therapy, which has no mechanism within it with which you would meet fellow users.