Number one New Year’s Resolution: Quitting Smoking
Next to losing weight, quitting smoking tops the list of many people’s New Year’s resolutions.
More than 20 million people will try to kick the habit in 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Luckily there is plenty of help in the form of gum, lozenges, pills and patches available over-the-counter or via prescription.
University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher and lung specialist Stephen Rennard, M.D., has focused much of his research on smoking cessation devices and techniques.
Nicotine replacement products, such as Nicorette gum, the NicoDerm CQ patch and dopamine blockers, like Zyban and Chantix, can double a smoker’s chance of quitting versus the cold turkey method, Dr. Rennard said.
"The available medications work by different mechanisms,” he said. “Nicotine replacement products and varenicline (Chantix) prevent people from experiencing full nicotine withdrawal and make it easier to quit. Chantix may also help prevent relapse.
Bupropion (Zyban) works by a less well understood method, but also helps people quit. The advantage of having several therapies is that different treatments may be more effective for different people. With all these different options there’s never been a better time for smokers to try to quit," he said.
It just depends on the person and how committed he or she is to quitting.
“Many people have told me they enjoy smoking – even though they know it is bad for them – and that cigarettes are their best friend,” said James Melson, manager of pulmonary clinical research at UNMC.
Melson said the number one barrier he has seen for people trying to quit is a lack of will power. “People just have to keep trying, because one of these days they are going to be successful,” he said.
Dr. Rennard is currently conducting a clinical trial looking at the quit rates for people with mild to moderate COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) using Chantix.
“We want to determine if they are successful in quitting using Chantix, if their lung function improves and if so, how quickly,” Dr. Rennard said.
For more information about the study contact James Melson at 559-8592.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.