Nicotine Patches and Gums May Not Work
January 10th, 2012
We’ve all seen the ads for nicotine gum or nicotine patches. They claim they can help do the trick. According to a recent study, however, these nicotine replacement patches don’t really work. Researchers who surveyed almost 800 former smokers found that almost a third of them had relapse after using these products, opening up speculation from scientists. One of these scientists, director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at Harvard School of Public Health Gregory Connolly, claims that these products are “no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes
in the long-term than trying to quit on one’s own,” and insists that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should only approve products that are proven to work.
However, there are still those who claim its effectiveness. A spokeswoman for the Glaxo company rates it as “a first-line therapy for quitting.” Additionally, a spokesman for the company Pfizer points out that quitting smoking is a lifelong process that can take multiple attempts. are proven to work.
