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THE SUCCESS OF different smoking cessation treatments could be predicted by how quickly smokers break down (metabolise) nicotine in their bodies, according to new research.
The findings come from the largest-ever pharmacogenetic study of tobacco dependence treatment.
They reveal that normal metabolisers of nicotine have better quit rates with a non-nicotine replacement therapy drug (varenicline) compared with the nicotine patch, whereas slow metabolisers achieve similar quitting success using the nicotine patch but without the side-effects reported with the drug.
“As many as 65% of smokers who try to quit relapse within the first week,” explains Caryn Lerman, co-lead author of the report, which was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine Journal.
Lerman said its findings show that “matching a treatment based on the rate at which smokers metabolise nicotine could be a viable clinical strategy to help individual smokers choose the cessation method that will work best for them”.
6 million deaths
Every year, about 6 million people die of smoking-related diseases and an estimated €170 billion is spent on tobacco-related health-care costs globally.
Smokers crave nicotine when their body’s nicotine levels drop. However, different people metabolise nicotine at different rates. Nicotine levels in the body drop more quickly in normal metabolisers (60% of smokers in the population) so they are more likely to smoke more and find it harder to quit.
In this study, Lerman and colleagues randomly assigned 1246 smokers who wanted to quit (662 slow metabolisers of nicotine and 584 normal metabolisers of nicotine) to 11 weeks of either the nicotine patch (plus a placebo pill), varenicline (plus placebo patch), or a placebo pill and patch.
All participants also received behavioural counselling and were followed for 12 months after their quit date.
At the end of the 11-week treatment, normal metabolisers taking varenicline were about twice as likely not to smoke as those using the nicotine patch, and were significantly more likely to still be abstaining from smoking 6 months later. Although varenicline was just as effective as nicotine patches at helping slow metabolisers to quit they reported more overall side-effects with the drug.
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I’m off them a week now using an ecig. It’s working for me. Certainly better than not giving up at all. Committed smoker for 25 years and I feel great!
I hate smoking its ruining me, feel so defeated by it. it’s the only thing in my life I can’t sort out.
Caroline, you’ve likely spent your adult life brainwashing yourself into thinking you can’t quit. Do yourself a favour and sign up for an Alan Carr seminar (I did one in the Red Cow last year) and brainwash yourself back in the opposite direction.
I walked in with half a box of smokes in my pocket and haven’t bought or borrowed one since – crucially I haven’t wanted one either. It took 6 hours and has saved me 200 quid per month since last July (15 a day).
Oh I know its my brain, I know I’ve talked myself into this situation, its just going to be really hard to talk my self out of it. T
hank you very much for the info I will definitely look into it.
Y not make them illegal altogether , no benefits whatsoever. One of the biggest killers on the planet,
Yeah because making stuff illegal stops it altogether. How about better education as to why we smoke in the first place. Is it cool, why yes, because it has been lobbied for years in movies and TV shows and magazines that all the cool people smoke. But at the end of the day not everyone has the money for health insurance. The media, print and visual doesn’t focus hard enough on the crap hacking up of yellow pile and the first smoke that makes you dizzy first thing in the morning. Smoking isn’t good and it isn’t cool. So I have turned into a self righteous pr/ck and I am only off them 10 days.
Car crashes are also one if the biggest killers. Should we ban cars?
Reason not being made illegal is because Government make millions from taxes on tobacco products.
I tried all types of Nicotine replacements over the years including cold turkey, patches, gum, and tablets Even Alan Carr’s book didn’t work. The only thing that has worked and is still working is vapeing. I’ve been vaping over a year and I feel 100% better. I’ve been slowly dropping my nicotine level down and I haven’t struggled with any of the side affects of other methods I’d tried in the past.
There is a way to suit everyone and no one should judge another person on the method they choose, after all everyone is different. As long as it gets you off the smokes is the main point isn’t it.
For myself and for many others vapeing has been the answer to this problem.
Not only has my health notably improved but also the money I’ve saved is great. Many people make the mistake of buying a cheap set up with cheap liquids they have seen in a supermarket, but these are not the best and as a result they slip back. Join one of the many groups on social media as many have done and you’ll get the knowledge and support from people whom have been down the same road as yourself which is a great help and motivation to stick with it.
Smoking is cool, simple as.
The trick is not to ban cigarettes but to ban the sale of any product with nicotine in it. That will end the smoking. Personally I found it better to end my nicotine addiction rather than use nicotine replacement methods like patches or vapes or gum. Anyone who wants to stop… It can be done and I wish you the best. Allen Carr’s book is what stopped me smoking and his method helps to tackle the nicotine addiction.
Stopped 6 months ago! I feel fantastic!! I have money in my pocket. Put on a couple of pounds, but so what. To tell you the truth, smoking is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Far more harmful than your worst enemy,,,,,, and you are paying for it!!!
Loved it until I had my first hartatack
Have tried so many times to quit. Am completely fed up of them, dont enjoy most of them, they take up too much time in my day and cost money I really don’t have to waste. I turn into a very grumpy and short fused b!t€h when i quit and with 2 kids i cant inflict that on them.
Stick at it, you’ll get there but you must stick at it. The bad temper goes after a while, and it’s really worth it. I’m nearly 5 years off them, and I was a proper smoker (down to 30 a day when I quit). Its not easy and there’s no magic bullet, but it does get easier, much easier. I still get cravings every day or so, but that used to be every few minutes. All the patches, ecigs, gum and tablets will help, but willpower is still needed. I don’t have the E4000 I was smoking a year saved. but I don’t have a cough like a 90 yr old any more either. Best of luck…
This is a great piece of information if you’re looking for it. But it won’t help you quit. If you really want to stop smoking, just make a plan and stick to it. I’ve used “simpleguided smoking plan” and it’s really great.
Quit four years ago come next paddy’s day. Best thing I ever did. I found cold turkey the only way to success. And a site called “Why Quit” a brilliant motivator. Give it a try if you’re serious and Good Luck
If planning it doesn’t work sometimes it may be easier to quit ‘by accident’, that way you don’t actually spend any energy avoiding it, you just stop. That’s what I did anyway and after the first couple days withdrawals it gets a bit better.
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