Patches fail to help smokers quit

Published on Tuesday 10 January 2012 00:00

NICOTINE patches and gum do not appear to be effective in helping smokers quit over the long term, according to a new study.

Scientists found that the therapies did not work even when combined with smoking cessation counselling.

The researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health followed 787 adult smokers who had recently quit smoking over three two-year time periods.

Hillel Alpert, lead author of the study published in Tobacco Control, said: “This study shows that using Nicotine Replacement Therapies is no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes in the long-term than trying to quit on one’s own.”

Meanwhile, a separate study has suggested nicotine patches can improve the memory of elderly people. This may point the way to new treatments that delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.

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Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 01:52 PM

Why does this not surprise me? Smoking is a HABIT, not an addiction to nicotine. Nicotine addiction does not exist and has been invented by anti-smokers in the same way that "passive" smoking does not exist and has been invented by anti-smokers. It is about time that we stopped wasting all this money on pursuing the twisted, selfish objectives of a tiny minority of extremists. The government are happy for us to smoke. They rake in literally billions per year because people smoke. It's about time that theyt were open about it and dropped all the stupid anti-smoking laws that the bigots have pursuaded them to impose upon us.

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Charles11

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 11:41 AM

This has been known for some time. It takes willpower to quit and people will not quit unless they really want to. I hope that the NHS will stop wasting taxpayers money on these useless products.

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tug

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:27 AM

No surprise there then. Will power alone has always had a far better success rate and costs the Taxpayer Nothing. Still, the Truth will come out in the end.

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