Nicotine Replacement Therapy vs Vaping

When it comes to quitting smoking for good, which gives you the greater chance at success: NRT or vape use?

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) has offered a solution for smokers who want to stop smoking since the mid-80’s. NRT is a long-standing, trusted source of support for millions of ex-smokers all over the world. The term refers to a group of therapeutic medications aimed at replacing the lost nicotine in your body with a less harmful substitute.

Electronic cigarettes first appeared on the market in the early 2000’s. Invented by a Chinese man named Hon Lik in 2003, humanity has just passed the 20th anniversary of these new vape devices. Since the e-cigarette works by producing a new way to use nicotine, it could technically fall into the category of being an NRT tool in itself.

Scientists have already experimented to find out which works better – other forms of NRT or using a vape device. This article seeks to enlighten www.VapeDirect.com customers about which works best.

What is Nicotine Replacement Therapy?

Nicotine Replacement Therapy is an umbrella term for a number of different smoking cessation techniques. Using this technique, the nicotine normally available in cigarettes is administered to the smoking cessation patient in an effort to reproduce the feeling nicotine gives us.

Nicotine is a dangerously addictive substance. In order to stop using it, you must wean yourself off it. Nicotine Replacement Therapy offers you the chance to do this, thereby lessening the withdrawal symptoms which make cessation nearly impossible.

Types of NRT include:

Patches which you wear on your skin
Chewing gum which administers a nicotine dose
Sprays for the nose or mouth
Tablets or lozenges
Dissolvable strips for the tongue
Inhalators resembling a crude version of an e-cigarette

When you administer nicotine in this way you eliminate the need for smoking. The theory is that if you can avoid the physical practice of smoking for long enough, you can break the habitual need to smoke.

Vaping and E-Cigarettes

The UK government has set themselves the seemingly impossible task of having a smoke-free generation by 2030. Smoking cigarettes causes so much damage to your lungs and overall health that it kills 76,000 people annually, according to NHS data.

Vape devices have evolved out of the need for us to quit smoking. Initially invented by a heavy smoker, the electronic cigarette administers nicotine into the body through the lungs, but without the 4,000+ harmful and poisonous chemicals which exist inside each cigarette.

The vape device uses specially designed liquid to deliver its nicotine dose. A small electrical charge heats a coil inside the tank of the device. The glass tank contains e-liquids. These become mildly heated, producing a vapour which the user inhales through the mouthpiece.

The user does not inhale smoke, but vapour. The same as the steam in your bathroom when you take a shower. The difference is that e-liquids come in a world of flavour possibilities and can safely administer a dose of nicotine without the smoke.

Effectiveness of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Now that we have established what NRT is and the types of therapy vs vaping in play, we can explore the scientific comparisons to find out what works best.

Essentially, NRTs have been in production for decades now, proving that public belief is behind them. However, there are studies which back up NRT’s usefulness as a smoking cessation tool.

The National Library of Medicine contains a paper from the International Journal of Health Sciences. Outlining that using tobacco is the topmost preventable cause of death worldwide. The paper points out that different types of NRT have different levels of efficacy within scientific studies.

70 scientifically peer reviewed studies conclude that:

Nicotine gum and transdermal patches have a marked impact on smoking cessation
NRTs reduce smoking past the three month mark
Certain drugs can aid in the reduction of smoking, namely Vernicline and Bupropion
Placebo-controlled trials proved far less effective
That NRTs have a hierarchy of cessation success

If you would like to try to quit smoking we do not recommend you turn to drugs. Simply visit the VapeDirect shop, where you can find vape kits to suit every smoker, new vape user, and vape juice taste that you need.

Effectiveness of Vaping

Next, let’s examine what similar studies say about the efficacy of using vaping as a smoking cessation tool. Does it work better or not as well as Nicotine Replacement Therapy? Let’s find out.

The National Institute For Health contains another study, this one in the Plos One journal. The study performed a systematic review into e-cigarettes and smoking cessation. The paper covers 6 studies which contained over 7.5 thousand participants.

This peer reviewed study into vaping as a method of smoking cessation concluded that:

Nicotine filled e-cigarettes are more effective than quitting smoking without NRT
18% of the participants stayed off cigarettes past the 6-month marker
Those who used the vape device to quit at least smoked less cigarettes than they had before.
E-cigarette use is positively associated with smoking cessation

Added to this, a later study conducted in England in 2020 gave us further answers. The Public Health England report found that:

Almost thirty percent of English smokers used vape devices to help them successfully quit in that year
In that same year, 18.2% of ex-smokers successfully quit using NRT

This gives us the answer we have been looking for. The study also showed other interesting facts, such as reflecting that 4.4% of all quitters used prescription medications to do so.

Safety and Health Considerations

There are few points of contention around the safety of vaping. Some of this is propaganda and some true. Other stories reported from abroad contain the types of risky vape devices which the UK governments vaping standards regulations prevent from sale in the UK.

Commonly perceived potential problems with vaping include the following things.

Electrical Issues

E-cigarettes are manufactured to the highest quality of safety standards within the UK. Don’t leave them in a hot place or allow them to freeze. They are electrical products, treat them accordingly.

Environmental Concerns

Disposable vape devices are ending up in landfill sites rather than going through the recycling process. With millions disposed every year, this poses a threat to the environment. New regulations are in the works to prevent this. Let’s not forget that the status of cigarette ends as a world leader in plastic waste

Battery Safety

You can read about battery safety in our Vape Room, which contains all the latest news, blog posts, and vaping guides you could ever need to vape confidently.