Nicotine-replacement Products Don't Help You Quit Smoking
Smokers who use nicotine replacement products when they try to quit smoking cigarettes don't fare much better than those who try to quit without such products, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Health.
The research team followed 1,917 people who were trying to quit smoking, and compared the success of those who used gum, patches and other nicotine-replacement products to those who did not. Participants answered questions about relapses and their use of the products every two years between 2000 and 2010. There were no significant differences in the relapse rates of those who used the products and those who did not, according to the study that appeared in the journal Tobacco Control. In fact, heavy smokers who use the products without entering counseling actually had twice the relapse rates as heavy smokers who did not use them.
"We were hoping for a very different story," said Dr. Gregory N. Connolly, director of Harvard's Center for Global Tobacco Control and a co-author of the study. "I ran a treatment program for years, and we invested millions in treatment services."
Nicorette Gum came on the market in 1984, and nicotine patches appeared in 1992. The Federal Food and Drug Administration approved such products, after over 100 randomized controlled trials of over 40,000 smokers found that the products to be effective. These products represent an $800 million annual market. Many states have Medicaid programs that pay for nicotine replacement products for people who want to quit smoking.
A 2002 study from the University of California found that nicotine replacement products had no benefit to those trying to quit smoking.
Dr. Stephanie O'Malley, head of substance abuse research in the psychiatry department at Yale medical school, said that the latest study may be flawed because of an "indication bias." She explained that people who use nicotine replacement therapies may be more severely addicted to cigarettes than those who do not, and therefore are more likely to have trouble quitting smoking than others. This factor would skew the results of the study.
