09Dec 2009 by Walt Larimore

Nicotine patches and gum likely safe during pregnancy

Woman's Health
Nicotine patches and gum seem to be safe and effective in pregnant women, according to a new study. Such patches and gum have been shown to help non-pregnant adults stop smoking, study co-author Dr. Geeta K. Swamy told Reuters Health. However, women and their physicians have been uncertain about their safety and effectiveness during pregnancy. Reuters Health reports Dr. Swamy, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues took another look at data on pregnant smokers who had participated in a study comparing psychological treatments with nicotine patches or gum to help them quit. Adding nicotine patches or gum tripled the number of women who quit, from 8 percent to 24 percent. However, almost a third, 31%, of the women who used the patch or gum had…
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09Dec 2009 by Walt Larimore

Nicotine Patch Plus Lozenge Best Therapy for Smoking Cessation

Cancer, Heart Health, Men's Health, Woman's Health
MedScape is reporting "An important head-to-head study of smoking cessation therapies shows that combination treatment with a nicotine patch plus lozenge almost doubles the rate of abstinence at 6 months compared with placebo, new research suggests." "This is the first time that a head-to-head study has been done looking at all the different smoking cessation pharmacotherapies, and it's also one of the first times that combination therapies have been looked at in a large sample," said lead author Megan E. Piper, PhD, assistant professor, Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison. "When you get a 40% quit rate at 6 months in a group, that's really promising for smokers who are trying so hard to quit." The study was published in…
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