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Study analyzes how patch helps smoking cessation

Respiratory Care Weekly, April 26, 2006

Nicotine patches help keep smokers from total relapse, even when they sneak a cigarette now and then, reported the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. University of Pittsburgh psychologist and professor Saul Shiffman analyzed how 324 patients fared using different doses of nicotine patches. Through electronic diaries, researchers tracked how patients made or missed treatment milestones and if and when they did smoke during their attempts to quit.

People who wore the patch-even after lapsing-were four to six times less likely to give up their efforts to stop smoking. This represents a change in smoking-cessation thinking: Previously, when a quitter lapsed, he or she was considered a failure. Shiffman contends that quitters who might lapse have hope for permanent smoking cessation if they stick to the patch therapy after they've lapsed, reported the Journal.

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