A study published in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” found there is little difference in the success tobacco users have had between patches, lozenges or taking Pfizer’s Chantix to quit.
The 1,086 people trying to quit smoking were separated into 3 groups; one using nicotine patches alone, one only used Chantix, and the third used a combination of patches and nicotine lozenges.
This is the first-time researchers compared these three quit treatments in one study.
Scientists found there was statistically no difference in the quit rate from the three groups. At the six-month mark 23% were quit using the patch, 24% were quit using Chantix and 27% had success using the patches and lozenges combination. At the one year mark the numbers were 21%, 19% and 22% respectively.
However, the study also found that of those using Chantix; 29% experienced nausea, 23% were affected by vivid dreams and 22% reported suffering from insomnia.
As expected, the quit rates for these cessation methods were significantly higher than going cold turkey, which has a success rate generally falling in the 3% to 5% range.
According to a spokeswoman for Pfizer, the drug company used a double-blind random placebo-controlled trial which she suggested was more robust in evaluation of success. The spokeswoman said those studies have shown Chantix to be more effective, but she did not say how much more effective.
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