Using Nicotine Patches Longer Could Avert Risk of Chantix Side Effects

A new study from the University of Philadelphia delivers what could be good news for smokers trying to quit but desperate to avoid Chantix side effects. The study finds that using nicotine patches for longer than the recommended eight-week period may be as effective or more than smoking cessation drugs.

Using Nicotine Patches Longer Could Avert Risk of Chantix Side Effects

Researchers studied roughly 568 adult smokers who smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day over the past year. Over the following 24 weeks, roughly 32 percent of smokers who used the patch for the duration of the study were smoke-free, as opposed to the 19 percent of those who used it for the recommended 8 weeks.

The number of smokers who remained smoke-free one year after the study was virtually identical in both groups.

"Data suggest[s] that the many smokers who relapse while trying to quit will be especially helped by extended treatment, which appears to make it easier for smokers to 'get back on the wagon,' instead of having it turn into a full-blown relapse," writes Robert Schnoll, the lead researcher of the study.

Schnoll claims that extended use of nicotine patches is at least as effective as using drug therapies like Zyban and Chantix, but without the risk of insomnia or suicide, respectively.

Using Nicotine Patches Longer Could Avert Risk of Chantix Side Effects

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