Chicago—Counseling and certain combinations of behavioral therapies, drug therapies, or both may increase smokers’ chances of quitting, according to an updated guideline for tobacco cessation treatment published by the US Public Health Service in May (http: //www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco /treating_tobacco_use08.pdf). The guideline, an update of previous versions published in 1996 and 2000, is based on a review of more than 8700 studies and reflects recent advances in cessation treatment and a greater understanding of what types of interventions are most effective. A consortium of 8 organizations—the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Cancer Institute; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the American Legacy Foundation; and the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health— provided funding and oversight. Carlos Roberto Jaen, MD, PhD, vice chair of the panel that completed the guidelineupdate,notedhowfartherapies for cessationhavecomesince the1980s. Physicians today have many choices of medications and counseling backed by thehighestqualityofevidence,henoted. According to the guideline, cessation counseling provided individually, in a group, or over the telephone is an effective intervention and its effectiveness increases with greater intensity. Such counseling is now widely available; every state has a tobacco “quit line,” which can be reached by dialing 1-800-QUITNOW. There also are now 7 cessation medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—bupropion SR, nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler, nicotine lozenge, nicotine nasal spray, nicotine patch, and varenicline.
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Bridget M. Kuehn (2008) studied this question.