Combination therapy helps persistent smokers quit
11 April 2003
Using more than one smoking-cessation medications increases the likelihood of hard-to-treat smokers quitting, a thoracic conference heard this week.
Head of Central Sydney Area Health Service smoking clinics, Renee Bittoun, said most smokers who previously failed to quit should respond to 2 or 3 concurrent treatments. Heavily dependent smokers might use one therapy to halve their cigarette intake and, when achieved, add another to quit altogether.
She said combining nicotine patches with nicotine gum, inhalers or Zyban was not well known and had not been heavily marketed by drug companies.
However, she said that there was evidence for this approach, including her study of 100 hard-to-treat smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which found those on combination therapy achieved a quit rate of over 60 per cent at 3 months.
Combination therapies used included: 21 mg patch plus 4 mg gum; 4 mg gum plus nicotine inhaler; 21 mg patch, 4 mg gum plus nicotine inhaler; and Zyban plus 21 mg patch.
All the smokers had previous multiple unsuccessful quit attempts on single nicotine replacement or Zyban therapy, Ms Bittoun told the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's annual scientific meeting in Adelaide.
(Before using a combination of products to aid quitting, first see your doctor.)
Last Reviewed: 14 April 2003
- 1. Medical Observer Weekly 11/4/03
