Study: E-Cigarettes and Nicotine Patches Similarly Effective - East Idaho News

Study: E-Cigarettes and Nicotine Patches Similarly Effective

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173168373?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1378654051095ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — A New Zealand study on e-cigarettes found that they pose no greater health risk than the nicotine patch and are no less effective in getting smokers to kick the habit.

Use of e-cigarettes, which also scored points in likability, has more than doubled among middle school and high school students in the last year.

The findings in the New Zealand study were presented at the European Respiratory Society, showed that similar numbers of those surveyed had quit smoking using e-cigarettes and the nicotine patch, but that more e-cigarette users had cut down on their smoking.

E-cigarettes give users a hit of nicotine while also mimicking the sensation of smoking. The study, published in the Lancet, found that 7.3 percent of those using e-cigarettes quit smoking after six months, compared to 5.8 percent using the patch.

Additionally, 57 percent of e-cigarette users had halved the number of cigarettes they smoke daily, compared to 41 percent for patch users.

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