Nicotine Replacement Therapy Before Quitting May Help (NRT) -- nicotine-infused gums, patcheicotine Replacement Therapy Before Quitting May Help

(NRT) -- nicotine-infused gums, patches, etc. -- before quitting cigarettes may improve long-term cessation success, Reuters reported June 25.

A study of 1,100 New Zealanders -- half of whom began NRT two weeks before they quit cigarettes, and another half that started NRT after -- found only a 2 percent difference in abstinence success after six months. When combined with previous pre-quitting NRT studies, however, success increased by approximately 25 percent overall.

The findings suggest a "small-to-moderate" benefit to pre-quitting therapy, University of Auckland researchers wrote. Side effects from the pre-quitting and regular NRT groups were approximately the same.

The study is published in the July 2010 issue of the journal Addiction.

http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2010/nicotine-replacement-therapy.html