Doctors typically wait until smokers quit tobacco before prescribing pills to help them stop. But new research suggests medicine taken over time can substantially improve a smoker’s chances of eventually quitting, even if he or she hasn’t yet tried to kick the habit.
The study, published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association, examined the effectiveness of Chantix, used to treat nicotine addiction, and found that it is useful even for patients who wanted to stop smoking eventually,
The New York Times reports.
David Abrams, M.D., executive director of the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies, said studies of nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches and gum, have shown that attempts to quit gradually over time are a good way to change lifetime habits.
But the latest study — involving 1,500 patients at 61 clinics in the United States and abroad — shows the same for pills, he said.
“Sometimes serious addiction needs to be coaxed down the stairs one at a time not thrown off the top floor,” said Dr. Abrams, who was not involved in the study.
Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans a year.
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