It may sound like dream propaganda for the makers of nicotine patches. And it is. Moreoverat least one of the study authors has worked in the past as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKlinemaker of Nicoderm CQone of the best-selling brands of transdermal nicotine patches.
So there is every reason to dismiss a recent study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicinepublished in the Annals of Internal Medicinewhich strongly suggests that the currently recommended regimen of two months isn’t long enough. It should be tripled. Which also triples sales.
There’s only one catch: There is reason to believe that the results are legitimateand that smokers who are trying to quit would be more successful if they stuck with the patch for longer periods than currently recommended on the manufacturer’s box. For some time nowtobacco addiction researchersand centers such as Mayo Clinic’s Stop Smoking facilitieshave recognized the need for extending the manufacturer’s suggested period of use.
Referring to the patch on its Stop Smoking web siteMayo Clinic says: “You typically use the nicotine patch for eight to 12 weeks. You may need to use it longer if cravings or withdrawal symptoms continue.”
And from the field come reports of abstaining smokers independently choosing to use the patch longeroften by cutting the patches into eighths or sixteenths in order to accomplish a longslow taper at the end of the process. By following this routea nicotine addict need not be aware of the precise day or moment when his nicotine fix from the patch has dropped to placebo levels—further evidence that nicotine addiction is a chronic condition that may not respond to treatments of only two to three months in duration.
One early development during the marketing of the patch that helped set the short-term use pattern were reports in the 1990s of heart attacks by patch users. Subsequent research showed that rare cardiac problems had arisen in patients who had continued heavy smoking while on the patchand that there was little evidence of a direct link between nicotine patches and heart attacks. (Recent heart attack victims are advised to wait six weeks and use patches with caution.)
The study concludes: “Transdermal nicotine for 24 weeks increased biochemically confirmed point-prevalence abstinence and continuous abstinence at week 24reduced the risk for smoking lapsesand increased the likelihood of recovery to abstinence after a lapse compared with 8 weeks of transdermal nicotine therapy.”
One limitation of this particular studyacknowledged as such by the authorsis that “participants were smokers without medical comorbid conditions who were seeking treatment.” In other wordsthe study cohort consisted of highly motivated smokers.
And another problem is cost: Few health insurance companies cover the full cost of patchesincluding Medicaid. The additional cost per quitterthe study foundwas about $2,400 for the extended regimen.
Nonethelessany uptick in success rates for smoking cessation programs should be noted and taken under consideration.
Quitters do better on 6-month regimen.