Nicotine patches and gum lose its long-term effect

Tags: stop smoking —

Have you considered to welcome 2012 without a cigarette between your fingers? If you marked this year as the year you finally quit smoking and was armed with patches, gum, inhalers or nasal sprays that will make it more bearable ‘mono’ of the cigar, not the time to be disappointed by this news. Only reaffirms something you need to know: for there is much outside help in the long run the only truly effective method to quit a bad habit is the very strength of will .

This is the advice that is extracted from the new study published in ‘Tobacco Control’ , where researchers from the School of Public Health at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts have been monitoring about 800 former U.S. smokers in three periods between 2001 to 2006.

All these people-who had less than two years away from the bad fumes, asked if they used smoking cessation therapies in the form of gum, patches, inhalers or nasal sprays , and how long they had been used. The result was described by the authors as “amazing” it was noted that in each period analyzed, almost 35% of respondents had returned to enjoy a cigarette .

Furthermore, the results did not show significant differences between former smokers who combined these treatments with professional advice or not, or among those who had been a heavy smokers or, conversely, much more moderate.

“What we showed in this study is that the use of therapeutic nicotine replacement therapy is more effective in helping you quit smoking long term if a person decides to leave the snuff alone , without help, “explains Dr. Hillel Alpert, director of the study.

So no longer serve?

With these results, the authors of the research are choosing to ‘a warning’ to the health authorities at the time of financing smoking cessation treatments, “so that only receive this money therapies prove effective also long term, “said Hillel Alpert.

But, it’s easy to fall into doubt, are these methods a fraud? “No” sharply replied Victor Lopez, former president of the National Committee for Smoking Prevention. “Patches, gum, and others are only a support to quit smoking, but not a magic bullet, should be viewed in perspective , “says the specialist.

“Between 50 to 60% of those who try to quit smoking using this type of treatment that in the short term, many studies have shown to be effective,” said Victor Lopez. “These patches are used for therapy of two or three months, what happens next? If you really want to quit there is only one option: be willing to do so , since there is no drug or therapy can eliminate the desire of smoking alone, “he says.

As all experts agree is the need for more studies examining the benefits of these drugs: “The truth is that this is not like when you have a typical disease, that you take a pill, and control. Smoking is a much more complicated and there are few studies with large samples and strong results that help make plans better smoking than we currently have, “says Dr. Lopez.

“Although there are encouraging figures indicate that many people have decided to shelve the cigar, still it is estimated that more than 1,300 billion smokers worldwide and six million people die each year due to this habit . It is, therefore, a serious issue to consider effective measures needed to combat it, “concludes Dr. Alpert.