A review of hundreds of smoking cessation studies revealed that most ex-smokers parted ways with their addiction without the
help of any medicated patches or pills, reviving the old faith that will power alone has a stronger potential to help smokers overcome their habit.
Terming the recent surge in use of nicotine patches as ‘medicalization of smoking cessation’, Simon Chapman and Ross MacKenzie of the School of Public Health in Sydney, Australia said that use of medicated nicotine aids to give up smoking was not backed by credible evidence. An analysis of 511 studies published in 2007 and 2008 showed that two-thirds to three-quarters of smokers stop unaided and most ex-smokers report that cessation was less difficult than expected.
In the new issue of PLoS Medicine, researchers have said that the pharmaceutical industry has in part funded many studies that use the various nicotine aids or medications, thus promoting their use. The study authors have therefore urged pharmaceutical companies to bring in some balance in the messages smokers receive about quitting.
Simon Chapman further said: “Next time you hear the message that various drugs “double the quit rate”, understand that these results come from clinical trials where participants get their drugs free, where they are often called up with reminders and questions, where they develop relationships with the researchers and often want to please them, and where we know that many using the active drug are able to correctly guess they are on it or on the dummy drug.”
More About The Study: https://www.onmedica.com/news/1258c522-246b-4f6e-9098-d5e34693b27c/most-ex-smokers-quit-cigarettes-without-medication-or-help
Written by Snigdha taduri for Biomed-ME