A major new scientific review of the evidence published in the journal Addiction has identified three main strategies to quit smoking. The lead author of the work is Jonathan Livingstone-Banks from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford (UK).
He first emphasizes the vareniclinea prescription drug sold under the brand names Chantix and Champix, among others. The following location highlights the cytisinea herbal compound available on prescription in the UK, in Canada as an over-the-counter natural health product (Cravv) and throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
Finally, he mentions the electronic cigarettes with nicotine. These medications work best when combined with behavioral support, such as counseling. bupropion and nicotine replacement therapy (TRN) are also effective, especially NRT patches combined with fast-acting forms such as chewing gumThere is strong evidence to support behavioral counseling and financial incentives to quit smoking, even without additional medication.
The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (CTAG) has been conducting systematic reviews of the highest quality for almost 30 years. This summary describes the main findings of the fourteen Cochrane Reviews published by CTAG between 2021 and 2023. Three Cochrane Reviews included in this summary are particularly notable.
Updated Cochrane review of nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) for smoking cessation found high-certainty evidence that combining a fast-acting form of NRT (gum, lozenges, sprays) NRT patches have helped more people quit smoking than the TRN alone.
The Cochrane Review of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation is a constantly evolving systematic review: the review authors search for new studies every month and update the review whenever new evidence emerges. The latest update concluded that there was high-certainty evidence that the Nicotine-containing e-cigarettes increase quit rates compared to nicotine replacement therapies and moderate-certainty evidence that they increase quit rates compared with nicotine-free e-cigarettes.
Thus, the 2023 Cochrane Review of pharmacological interventions and e-cigarettes for smoking cessation included all drugs licensed as smoking cessation treatments worldwide, as well as e-cigarettes with or without nicotine. The review included 319 studies (157,179 participants). IThe most effective interventions were e-cigarettes containing nicotine, varenicline and cytisine, all of which had high-certainty evidence, followed closely by combination nicotine replacement therapy (i.e. using a patch and a form of rapid-acting nicotine replacement therapy together).
Similarly, the updated Cochrane review of partial nicotine receptor agonists (varenicline and cytisine) for smoking cessation found that in studies directly comparing cytisine and varenicline, there may be no difference between the two smoking cessation medicationsThe review included 75 essays.
Jonathan Livingstone-Banks says: “Quitting smoking is difficult and some people find it harder than others, But tobacco is particularly deadly among legal consumer products, so it’s important to seek help to quit smoking. There are a variety of effective forms of smoking cessation aid, cytisine, varenicline and electronic cigarettes “These are evidence-based ways that significantly increase people’s chances of successfully quitting smoking.”
