It is widely accepted that the top quit smoking aids are nicotine replacement therapy, drugs and hypnotherapy. The question all smokers want to know is, which one works best?
What you are about to read about nicotine replacement may shock you, but these are the real facts.
The FDA approved prescription nicotine gum in 1984 and the prescription patch in 1992. Both became available over-the-counter in 1996.Today more than 50% of all smokers have attempted quitting while using replacement nicotine at least once.
While those addicted to smoking nicotine die in record numbers, Philip Morris USA continues to tell them that the best way to quit smoking is to buy more nicotine - replacement nicotine. What Philip Morris's quit smoking website will never disclose is that those relying exclusively upon the over the counter nicotine patch have a 93% chance of relapsing to smoking within six months. What it will not tell them is that two studies have shown that if they've already used the patch one time that their odds of relapse and defeat during a second attempt increase to almost 100%.
Chantix or Champix as it is known in Europe and Canada, is the latest of the top quit smoking aids to be heavily advertised around the world. Chantix entered the quitting product market as a prescription aid at a time when nicotine replacement therapy or NRT was the clear front-runner.
According to boasts by Pfizer, the drug's maker, "approximately one-in-five" users quit smoking for a year. This boast is based on their own study in which the subjects received intense counselling sessions for a entire year.
Pfizer's five clinical trials of varenicline were published in July and August 2006. Three are comparable in that they involved a 12-week treatment period using 1mg of Chantix twice daily. In the Chantix study headed by Gonzales, 21.9% of Chantix users were still not smoking at one year. In Oncken the rate was 22.4% and in Jorenby 23%.
That's an average one-year rate of 22% or, on the flip side, a relapse rate of 78%. But these rates were achieved under highly artificial clinic study conditions. History and common sense teach that use under real-world conditions will likely generate a significantly higher failure rate. If you believe that Chantix is one of the best quit smoking aids available you will be sadly mistaken.
Another favourite method to quit smoking is hypnotherapy. There are literally hundreds of hypnotherapists advertising their services on the internet. Their success rates are usually very high, but they would be wouldn't they? If you are thinking of taking this option my advice would be to make sure you get a recommendation from someone who has used them before. The power of suggestion can be very powerful, or it can be useless in the wrong hands.
Nicotine replacement therapy and stop smoking drugs are not the answer. You need to look behind the fanciful advertising and just look at the hard facts surrounding them. I can tell you that the best quit smoking aids are the self help sort. They cost a pittance compared to the other methods, and have much higher success rates.
What you are about to read about nicotine replacement may shock you, but these are the real facts.
The FDA approved prescription nicotine gum in 1984 and the prescription patch in 1992. Both became available over-the-counter in 1996.Today more than 50% of all smokers have attempted quitting while using replacement nicotine at least once.
While those addicted to smoking nicotine die in record numbers, Philip Morris USA continues to tell them that the best way to quit smoking is to buy more nicotine - replacement nicotine. What Philip Morris's quit smoking website will never disclose is that those relying exclusively upon the over the counter nicotine patch have a 93% chance of relapsing to smoking within six months. What it will not tell them is that two studies have shown that if they've already used the patch one time that their odds of relapse and defeat during a second attempt increase to almost 100%.
Chantix or Champix as it is known in Europe and Canada, is the latest of the top quit smoking aids to be heavily advertised around the world. Chantix entered the quitting product market as a prescription aid at a time when nicotine replacement therapy or NRT was the clear front-runner.
According to boasts by Pfizer, the drug's maker, "approximately one-in-five" users quit smoking for a year. This boast is based on their own study in which the subjects received intense counselling sessions for a entire year.
Pfizer's five clinical trials of varenicline were published in July and August 2006. Three are comparable in that they involved a 12-week treatment period using 1mg of Chantix twice daily. In the Chantix study headed by Gonzales, 21.9% of Chantix users were still not smoking at one year. In Oncken the rate was 22.4% and in Jorenby 23%.
That's an average one-year rate of 22% or, on the flip side, a relapse rate of 78%. But these rates were achieved under highly artificial clinic study conditions. History and common sense teach that use under real-world conditions will likely generate a significantly higher failure rate. If you believe that Chantix is one of the best quit smoking aids available you will be sadly mistaken.
Another favourite method to quit smoking is hypnotherapy. There are literally hundreds of hypnotherapists advertising their services on the internet. Their success rates are usually very high, but they would be wouldn't they? If you are thinking of taking this option my advice would be to make sure you get a recommendation from someone who has used them before. The power of suggestion can be very powerful, or it can be useless in the wrong hands.
Nicotine replacement therapy and stop smoking drugs are not the answer. You need to look behind the fanciful advertising and just look at the hard facts surrounding them. I can tell you that the best quit smoking aids are the self help sort. They cost a pittance compared to the other methods, and have much higher success rates.
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