Anyone who quits smoking is doing something good for their health. According to a study, three strategies in particular can help.
Smoking is the biggest avoidable health risk in Germany. Every year, over 127,000 people die in this country as a result of tobacco consumption. That’s over 300 people per day. Many more suffer from cancer, cardiovascular disease or other illnesses that were caused by cigarette consumption.
The good news: If you give up smoking, you can become as healthy as a non-smoker. Because the body regenerates itself over time. However, quitting smoking is not easy. According to a review study by the University of Oxford in England, there are three particularly effective aids that best help smokers quit. These include two active pharmaceutical ingredients and e-cigarettes.
For their study, the researchers evaluated 14 studies on smoking cessation that were published between 2021 and 2023 by the non-profit Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group. The current Oxford study summarizes the current state of knowledge.
The result: It’s easiest for smokers to give up cigarettes if they use or take a substitute product instead. Accordingly, both nicotine-containing e-cigarettes support the test subjects in quitting smoking, as do the prescription drug varenicline and the freely available, plant-based drug cytisine.
Cytisine is a plant-based active ingredient contained in the seeds of the laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides). It has a similar chemical structure to nicotine and can therefore bind to the same receptors in the body as nicotine. According to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BsArM), it is intended to alleviate the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. In Germany, only one drug with cytisine is currently approved, Asmoken. In other countries, especially Eastern European countries, other medicines with the active ingredient are approved.
According to the study, slow-acting nicotine-containing patches combined with faster-acting nicotine products such as chewing gum, lozenges and sprays were also effective, but less effective than other products. The active ingredient bupropion also helped people quit smoking, but was occasionally associated with psychological side effects.
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However, the authors note that many subjects who used e-cigarettes to quit continued the habit afterwards. These people have therefore simply switched to a different source of nicotine in the long term. Nevertheless, there were fewer signs of health damage in the blood of these test subjects, report the study authors. This means that e-cigarettes are not healthy, but at least less harmful, they conclude.
However, there is a growing number of new studies suggesting that e-cigarettes, especially the flavored versions, are more harmful to health than previously thought. A study by researchers from South Korea shows that ex-tobacco smokers who switched to e-cigarettes were more likely to develop lung cancer than ex-smokers who achieved complete abstinence (you can find the entire study here).
Researchers at the Institute for Therapy and Health Research in Kiel had also examined flavors in e-cigarettes. Their result: The aromatic substances increase the addictive potential and can also significantly increase the absorption of toxic substances through deeper inhalation. You can find out more about the study here.
- Read also: Quitting smoking – how to get through the first ten days better
“There are a number of effective forms of support for smoking cessation. Cytisine, varenicline and e-cigarettes each equally increase people’s chances of successfully quitting smoking,” explains Jonathan Livingstone-Banks, study author from the University of Oxford.
Success also increases significantly if accompanying advice or behavioral therapy is used. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, co-author from the University of Massachusetts, emphasizes: “These programs work best when they reward people for quitting smoking.”