Donna

Here is new study on quitting smoking from yesterday's Washington Post
[quote]SMOKING CESSATION

Quitting may work best with a combination treatment.

THE QUESTION Do medication-based aids to help people quit smoking -- a nicotine patch, nicotine lozenge, the drug bupropion -- differ in their effectiveness?

THIS STUDY involved 1,504 adults who smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day and wanted to quit. They were randomly assigned to use one of six treatments: a 24-hour nicotine patch, nicotine lozenges several times a day, sustained-release bupropion (an antidepressant marketed as the stop-smoking aid Zyban), the patch and lozenges together, bupropion and lozenges together, or a placebo. Treatments were taken for eight to 12 weeks, and participants also had six individual counseling sessions. While treatments were being used, people in three groups -- the patch, patch plus lozenge and bupropion plus lozenge -- had more success quitting than those in the placebo group. However, six months later, only people who had used the patch and the lozenges together had a better success rate than those who had taken the placebo. At that point, 40 percent of the patch-plus-lozenge group had quit, compared with 22 percent of the placebo group.
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WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? Smokers who want to quit. An estimated 20 percent of U.S. adults smoke cigarettes regularly. Government health experts predict that half of those who do not quit smoking will die of a smoking-related problem.

CAVEATS The authors suggested that participants might have been more motivated to quit smoking than the average smoker, evidenced by the relatively high quit rate in the placebo group after six months. People using lozenges, which required the highest number of daily treatments, were most likely to skip treatments. Zyban carries a government-mandated warning of the possibility of behavioral or mood changes, including suicidal thoughts, in some people. All medications were provided by GlaxoSmithKline.

FIND THIS STUDY November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

LEARN MORE ABOUT quitting smoking at http://www.smokefree.gov and http://www.lungusa.org.

-- Linda Searing

The research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals. Nonetheless, conclusive evidence about a treatment's effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering changing or beginning treatment of any kind should consult with a physician.

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