The HCSP (High Council for Public Health) published on January 4, 2022 an opinion on the benefits-risks of electronic cigarette. This can also be called Seden for Electronic Nicotine Delivery System. After a synthesis of the literature, the 148-page document specifies that “ there is insufficient evidence-based knowledge to propose Seden as aids to weaning smoking in the care of smokers by health professionals “.
Is vaping a smoking cessation aid?
It is commonly accepted that the electronic cigarette is an important aid in smoking cessation. However, this hypothesis is not based on scientific data. Indeed, there are few trials on the subject and their methodological quality is not satisfactory. Moreover, the limited data available shows that in the context of smoking cessation, the use of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine is superior neither to the use of electronic cigarettes not containing nicotine (considered as placebo) or nicotine replacement therapy. The report notes, however, that ” a pragmatic approach must take into account the fact that some smokers will prefer to use a Seden rather than resorting to the health system “.
One could imagine that the electronic cigarette be used instead of tobacco and that thus it would promote the reduction of its risks. It would seem that is not the case. One in two people trying to quit smoking with an electronic cigarette containing nicotine continue to smoke cigarettes, adding up the risks.
Do electronic cigarettes encourage young people to smoke tobacco?
According to the data available, the electronic cigarette would constitute a kind of bridge towards the consumption of cigarettes among young people when one would have hoped for a diversionary effect. In adolescents, it would play an initiating role. However, the studies in question have biases and it is difficult to conclude with certainty on this point.
In conclusion, the HCSP asks health professionals who accompany patients in their smoking cessation to favor treatments that have proven their effectiveness, which is not the case with electronic cigarettes. However, he qualifies: the lack of evidence-based knowledge does not exclude the possibility that the risk-benefit ratio of these products used outside the healthcare system may represent assistance for certain consumers and thus contribute to improving their health “.
The electronic cigarette not banned, but not recommended either
The High Authority for Health has just delivered its recommendations for those who wish to quit smoking. And does not yet give a firm opinion on the interest of the electronic cigarette for smoking cessation: less toxic a priori than the classic cigarette, it should not in spite of everything become a springboard towards addiction.
Article by Janlou Chaput, published on January 22, 2014
This report was expected. The High Authority for Health (Has) was to give its recommendations on smoking cessation on Tuesday January 21. But these fall while during the past year, the electronic cigarette has experienced a real boom, without dispelling doubts about its possible dangers or precisely measuring its potential for weaning. Pending clearer scientific data, the health authority preferred not to get wet: the e-cigarette, adopted by 1.5 million French people, is tolerated, but remains monitored.
- To read : The electronic cigarette scrutinized
The first studies tend to show that these electronic cigarettes are not free of toxic substances… but at doses much lower than those found in conventional cigarettes. There is therefore no question of banning it and, on the contrary, Has even recommends not to dissuade a smoker wishing to quit who would start vaping, if the transition only lasts a short time.
If it arouses the interest of part of the scientific world, the e-cigarette has not removed all doubts. Doesn’t she run the risk of maintaining a habit of gesture? And doesn’t it facilitate the transition from non-smokers to smoking? A recent study suggests this second point. Questions which still challenge Has and which explain its non-decision. She is waiting for more precise assessments to decide.
Tobacco responsible for 73,000 deaths per year
In the rest of its report, Has recalls that 97% of smokers who decide to quit on their own fail, emphasizing the need for support in smoking cessation. The candidates are numerous: they represent approximately half of the 15 million smokers in France. Psychological support, supplemented by nicotine substitutes (patches, chewing gum, sucking tablets, inhalers, etc.) remain the basic treatment to be prescribed as first-line treatment. The other, less conventional techniques (acupuncturehypnosis) are not encouraged by Has, because their benefit is not established.
- To read : Tobacco: the e-cigarette as effective as the quit smoking patch
The fight against smoking is a major concern for health authorities. Endowed with a strong addictive power, the cigarette is the cause of 73,000 deaths per year, in France alone, and estimates consider that one in two smokers will die of a pathology directly related to tobacco. However, we must not forget that it is never too late to quit.
- To read : our file to quit smoking
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