Long-term use of nicotine vs placebo gum
Article Abstract:
In recent years, nicotine gum has been prescribed to help people quit smoking. The nicotine in the gum helps to block some of the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms smokers experience when they stop smoking cigarettes. The gum is designed to be tapered, not used indefinitely, but some people have been reported to become dependent on it. An assessment of over 300 smokers was performed to see if the gum could produce dependence. The patients were assigned to receive either nicotine gum or placebo gum, which did not contain nicotine. They received smoking cessation counselling, and were advised that they should stop the gum three months after starting it. At the 6-month follow-up, nearly 50 percent of the abstinent smokers in the nicotine group continued to use the gum, while only 20 percent of the placebo group were using the gum without nicotine. After 10 months, however, only 17 percent of the nicotine gum group still used the gum, compared with 6 percent of the placebo group. Unlike other drug dependencies, nicotine gum use generally stops two to three years after quitting smoking. Patients who stop using nicotine gum gradually do not seem to experience physical withdrawal symptoms. Discontinuing the gum did not lead to weight gain or a relapse in smoking. Thus, while nicotine gum use often extended beyond the recommended three-month period, patients did not seem to be heavily dependent on it, as in time, most had stopped it without reverting to cigarettes. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Archives of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-9926
Year: 1991
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Nicotine vs placebo gum in general medical practice
Article Abstract:
The use of nicotine gum has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an effective support to quitting smoking only when used in a program that combines behavioral therapy. To test whether nicotine gum is effective when used with only brief therapy, a group of 315 smokers who attended a family practice physician and who wished to quit smoking were divided into two groups: those receiving nicotine gum and those receiving a placebo (no active ingredient). All smokers received brief instruction from a physician and a nurse, which included a slide presentation and written materials. One week after quitting smoking all patients receive a short 12 to 20 minute follow-up visit. One year later there was no statistically significant difference between the 10 percent of patients which used nicotine gum and 7 percent of placebo patients who had remained free of the use of tobacco. There appears to be no value in the use of nicotine gum to increase cessation of smoking when used in a brief encounter treatment format.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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A randomized trial to increase smoking intervention by physicians: Doctors Helping Smokers, Round 1
Article Abstract:
The success rate of patients who try to quit smoking is not related to whether their doctors asked them about their smoking habits, nor does specific training of the physician affect the outcome. Sixty-six physicians were gathered into three groups to conduct a one-month campaign to help their patients stop smoking. One group received free patient education materials and a six-hour training workshop; another group received the educational materials, and the third group received nothing. Both workshop and materials physicians asked 54 percent of their smoking patients to stop; no-assistance physicians asked 40 percent. Of the patients who had been asked to stop, 47 percent attempted to quit. Thirty-six percent of those who were not asked tried to stop smoking. Of the 6767 patients enrolled in the study, only 12 to 14 percent were able to quit; the proportion was not related to which group the physician was in.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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