E-cigarettes may have a limited role in helping smokers with asthma quit tobacco, according to updated guidance in the Australian Asthma Handbook. 

Professor Nick Zwar, chair of the National Asthma Council Australia Guidelines Committee, said the previous edition of the handbook had suggested avoiding vaping but included little detail.

“In this version, we point out that it may have a limited place for helping people to stop smoking as a second-line agent … for people who haven’t been able to stop smoking with usual treatments,” he told Australian Doctor.

The advice in version 2.2 mirrored the RACGP’s guide on smoking cessation and pointed out there was still a lack of specific evidence for the use of e-cigarettes as a quit aid in people with asthma.