UK study: E-cigs may help smokers quit the real thing

After all the debate over the safety of e-cigarettes, a new study shows them in a more positive light. Researchers found that e-cigarettes helped some people to stop smoking the real thing.

The study was published Wednesday in the British Medicinal Journal.

Researchers at University College London analyzed information from the "Smoking Toolkit" study, which looked at smoking and attempts to quit in England. They found that e-cigarettes may have helped some 18,000 people in the country quit smoking in 2015.

The investigators pointed out that there was no evidence the use of e-cigarettes prompted people to try to quit. But they said that during 2015 the number of people who successfully quit smoking rose as more people used e-cigarettes.

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills up to half of its users.

The American Lung Association says 480,000 people in the United States die from tobacco related causes each year, making it the number one cause of preventable death in the country.