Smokers Quit More than Patch HeartInfo Commentary Anti-depressant medications may be a reasonable treatment for smoking cessation, though it is not clear that smokers who kick the habit with the aid of medication will continue to abstain from smoking after longer periods without medication. An important health issue is whether or not it will be necessary to keep smokers on medication for a lifetime. While developments in drug therapy to help smokers quit is good news, it is important to remember success in cessation begins with a strong desire to quit. A support system involving friends and family is also very important.
Physicians can help patients by discussing different methods for cessation.
The nicotine patch produces the same results as a placebo and fails to significantly boost abstinence rates when used along with bupropion, Douglas E. Jorenby of the University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, and colleagues report in the March 4 New England Journal of Medicine. Every year about 40 percent of smokers try to quit and only 6 percent succeed. Between 70 and 80 percent of people who quit using nicotine replacement therapy resume smoking, say researchers. Because smokers have a high rate of depression and depressed people have more difficulty quitting, researchers have been investigating the use of antidepressants for smokers. None of the participants were clinically depressed.