After six months, however, the 57% of e cigarette users had halved the number of cigarettes smoked each day compared with 41% in those using patches.

‘Increasing popularity’

Prof Chris Bullen, from the University of Auckland, said “While our results don’t show any clear cut differences between e cigarettes and patches in terms of ‘quit success’ after six months, it certainly seems that e cigarettes were more effective in helping smokers who didn’t quit to cut down.

“It’s also interesting that the people who took part in our study seemed to be much more enthusiastic about e cigarettes than patches.

“Given the increasing popularity of these devices in many countries, and the accompanying regulatory uncertainty and inconsistency, larger, longer term trials are urgently needed to establish whether these devices might be able to fulfil their potential as effective and popular smoking cessation aids.”

Regulations around the world are catching up with the surge in the popularity of e cigarettes. The EU and the UK are both working towards regulating e cigarettes in the same way as medicines.

The products also divide opinion with some arguing they normalise smoking and others saying they may help people to give up.

Prof Peter Hajek, the director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, described the study as “pioneering”.

“The key message is that in the context of minimum support, e cigarettes are at least as effective as nicotine patches.

“E cigarettes are also more attractive than patches to many smokers, and can be accessed in most countries without the restrictions around medicines that apply to nicotine replacement therapy or the costly involvement of health professionals.

“These advantages suggest that e cigarettes have the potential to increase rates of smoking cessation and reduce costs to quitters and to health services.”

However, he did call for longer term studies into the consequences of using the devices.

You can hear more from Prof Chris Bullen on Discovery on the BBC World Service.

Smoking & cardiovascular disease (heart disease)

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Cigarette and tobacco smoke, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, obesity and diabetes are the six major independent risk factors for coronary heart disease that you can modify or control.

Cigarette smoking is so widespread and significant as a risk factor that the Surgeon General has called it “the leading preventable cause of disease and deaths in the United States.”

Cigarette smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease by itself. When it acts with other factors, it greatly increases risk. Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases exercise tolerance and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Smoking also increases the risk of recurrent coronary heart disease after bypass surgery.

Cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor for young men and women. It produces a greater relative risk in persons under age 50 than in those over 50.

Women who smoke and use oral contraceptives greatly increase their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke compared with nonsmoking women who use oral contraceptives.

Smoking decreases HDL (good) cholesterol. Cigarette smoking combined with a family history of heart disease also seems to greatly increase the risk