According to a report by an American agency, the electronic cigarette would not be the best way to stop smoking. The professor of public health at the Faculty of Medicine of Geneva, Jean-François Etter, helps us to see more clearly. Interview.
Is the e-cigarette beneficial for a complete cessation of smoking? The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a US task force, says that e-cigarettes are not part of official recommendations to stop smoking. In question, the lack of studies conducted by pharmaceutical groups. Jean-François Etter, researcher in the field of tobacco and professor of public health, delivers his feelings.
According to the report made by American researchers, the e-cigarette is not the best way to quit smoking, what do you think?
This US agency has not published a detailed analysis of this statement. All we know is that there is not enough evidence and information on the e-cigarette to recommend it to patients. Not being registered as a drug, no official clinical study was conducted. For now, it seems reasonable not to recommend this element to stop smoking, unlike medication or cognitive behavioral method.
The electronic cigarette has been around for ten years, why no study has been carried out?
Studies were done years ago on first generation cigarettes, they had nothing to do with current e-cigarettes and provided little nicotine. At that time, the study showed that, indeed, they had a very modest impact on permanent smoking cessation. But since then, no one has ventured into other studies other than observational. Why ? Already, because manufacturers and distributors are not researchers but “salespeople”, sellers, they are not in advanced technology, even if the e-cigarette is very innovative: carrying out a scientific study does not not part of their skills. On the other hand, the e-cigarette is not considered a drug, it is not tested by pharmaceutical groups. Also, there is a lack of curiosity on the part of tobacco researchers. Nobody takes the leap of the study on the e-cigarette, in particular because the concept of the responsibility of the independent researcher is called into question since the European regulation established in 2001 ...
What are the means available to patients and doctors in order to completely stop smoking?
Medication assistance and the cognitive behavioral method are among the means used to help the patient to quit smoking. But it is a clinical approach, according to WHO criteria. In addition to this medical aid, national regulations such as taxation of the price of tobacco, prevention campaigns, and the ban on smoking in public places promote cessation. Unfortunately, cigarettes remain the leading cause of death in France, ahead of obesity. Each year, 60 to 000 people die as a result of active or passive smoking.
Concretely, what is the best way to quit smoking?
First of all, you have to make a firm decision to quit smoking of your own accord. Then, various aids are made available to the person wishing to quit: consultation of a tobacco specialist, the direct line "Tobacco info service" ... For the smoker, it is a question of not being alone and of not giving up: it takes several attempts to stop completely to be able to quit the addiction.
Source : West France
