New NRT approach to reduce quit anxiety

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has developed a new approach to nicotine replacement therapy to help reduce the anxiety associated with quitting abruptly.

The pharmacy-only 21mg patch, Nicabate Pre-Quit, eases the smoker into a cessation attempt by allowing them to apply the patch while continuing to smoke for two weeks.

The patch is the first in the world to be indicated and promoted for use while continuing to smoke in the pre-quit phase.

According to GSK, the product triples a smoker's long-term chance of quitting successfully compared to cold turkey.

Australian smoking cessation expert, Adjunct Associate Professor Renee Bittoun, who is director of the Smoking Cessation Unit at the Brain and Mind Research Institute, said this new approach has great potential to further increase success rates in smokers who use therapeutic nicotine to aid quit attempts, especially those who are intimidated at the prospect of an "abrupt" quit attempt.

"Many Australian smokers will feel reassured that the process of quitting cigarettes can be less abrupt - that they can build familiarity with the patch while continuing to smoke in the initial phase," Prof Bittoun said.

"Hopefully this product and the new research will also finally put to bed the myth that cigarettes and nicotine patches should not be used concurrently.

"Nicotine patches are a familiar product and they have a very positive safety profile, even in circumstances where the person continues to smoke," she said.

Professor Saul Shiffman, director of the Smoking Research Group at the University of Pittsburgh in the USA and the lead author of a recent meta-analysis that confirms the effectiveness of the "pre-quit" approach, said: "These findings show that this new approach can greatly improve the efficacy of a familiar product that is available without a prescription.

"Given that many smokers are likely to find some appeal in a 'lead-in' period prior to quitting, this new approach clearly has the potential to increase the reach of therapeutic nicotine in Australia.

"Australia is really leading the world with this improved way of using the nicotine patch and other countries will be watching the impact very closely," Prof Shiffman said.

1-Jul-2008