Smoking, Vaping, & Quitting Archive

Breaking a smoking habit can be hard. Nicotine is so addictive that smoking, or using tobacco in other forms, may be the toughest unhealthy habit to break. But it’s possible to quit. Nicotine replacement, in the form of nicotine patches, gum, sprays, inhalers, and lozenges, can help overcome the physical addiction. Medications such as varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban) can also help. They can help reduce the cravings for a cigarette, and may also make smoking less pleasurable. Two new studies show that adding one or both of these medications to nicotine replacement can help improve quit rates. This research doesn’t suggest that smokers take varenicline and bupropion as a first step in smoking cessation. But when nicotine replacement alone hasn’t helped, adding varenicline with or without bupropion may lead to success.

If you smoke, you’ve probably heard that quitting is beneficial at any age. It’s good for your health, can make you feel and look better, and saves you money. But you also know, from personal experience or the experiences of friends, that quitting is hard. Take heart. Today, there are more ex-smokers than smokers in the United States. There are also more and better tools to help people quit. Each year on the third Thursday of November, the American Cancer Society sponsors the Great American Smokeout. It aims to make smokers and their loved ones more aware of the benefits of quitting and the tools available for achieving that goal. In support of the Great American Smokeout, Harvard Health Publishing is giving away free electronic copies of the Harvard Medical School Guide: How to Quit Smoking. This offer ends at midnight tonight (Nov. 21, 2013).

The findings were presented at the American Urological Association annual meeting in May 2011.