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News: November 5, 2009
To Quit Smoking, Use Patch Plus Lozenge
November 5, 2009Out of five different smoking cessation methods, the nicotine patch plus lozenges proved to be the most effective, according to research published in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. The study is the first to compare the different products against each other.
Megan E. Piper, PhD and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found this combination to be the only modality with significantly higher abstinence from smoking compared with a placebo.
The researchers studied over 1500 adults over a period of six months who smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day. The patients were disqualified if they used any form of tobacco other than cigarettes, were currently taking the prescription medication buproprion, or had a mental health diagnosis of either psychosis or schizophrenia. All participants stated a motivation to quit smoking.
Bupropion is the generic name of the medication used as a smoking cessation drug (brand name Zyban) and as an antidepressant (Wellbutrin).
The participants were randomized to one of five treatment scenarios - nicotine lozenge alone, nicotine patch alone, sustained release buproprion alone or one of two combination therapies, buproprion plus lozenge or patch plus lozenge. The remainder of the study group received a placebo. All participants also received six individual smoking cessation counseling sessions with a case manager.
Smoking rates were assessed at one week, eight weeks, and six months after the beginning of the study.
All of the smoking cessation treatments worked better than the placebo for initial cessation and during the first week after quitting, but the therapy that provided the highest abstinence rate after six months was the patch plus lozenge combination, with a 40% success rate. The reasoning behind the successful combination is that the patch supplies a steady supply of nicotine replacement while the lozenge quells additional cravings.
In addition to initial cessation, participants who combined the patch and the lozenge were better able to remain smoke-free longer before having a cigarette or relapsing into regular smoking.
There were adverse events noted in each modality that was consistent with results from previous research: skin irritation associated with patch use, sleep disturbances and abnormal dreams for those on bupropion, and nausea for those on lozenges. Patients in the combination therapies reported more of the complications than those on single therapies or placebo. Four participants withdrew from the study, but there was only one serious event, hospitalization for seizures, which was possibly related to study medication, the researchers said.
The findings of this study complement the recommendation of the 2008 Update to the Public Health Service Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence Clinical Practice Guideline, which says that using the nicotine patch along with nicotine gum or spray is the most effective methods to quit smoking.
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December 12, 2009 | Researchers Find New Drug To Shrink Breast Cancer TumorsBoston (SmartAboutHealth) - Researchers have discovered a new antibody drug that has the ability to shrink breast cancer tumors that other drugs have failed to impact. The study was carried out by researcher Dr. Ian Krop and colleagues at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. What they discovered is that a hybrid drug, T-DM1, was able to shrink or at least stop the growth of HER2-positive breast cancer tumors. The drug is ...
December 11, 2009 | Fewer dollars for smoking preventionEven as states pull in billions of dollars in tobacco settlement money - part of which is typically used to fund anti-smoking programs - they're slashing the amount they spend on such programs by 15%. Altogether, states will spend $567.5 million on anti-smoking efforts in the 2010 fiscal year, says a report released by five groups including the ...
December 9, 2009 | Smoking Kills Millions Worldwide Every YearTobacco use kills at least 5 million people every year, a figure that could rise if countries don't take stronger measures to combat smoking, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In a new report on tobacco use and control, the U.N. agency said nearly 95 percent of the global population is unprotected by laws banning smoking. WHO said secondhand smoking kills about 600,000 people every ...
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