Studies have demonstrated that the administration of oral forms
of therapeutic nicotine including Nicorette(R) gum or Commit(R)
lozenge, can significantly reduce cravings within minutes and in
those situations that remind someone of smoking. Therapeutic nicotine
in the form of gum or lozenge target nicotine receptors to provide
rapid relief of cravings. The treatment regimen allows the smokers
to wean off nicotine gradually, which can double a smoker's chances
of quitting successfully over cold turkey.
Therapeutic nicotine is available over-the-counter at 35,000 retail
stores across the U.S., making access convenient and readily available
to a smoker who is dealing with a craving. A smoker can access therapeutic
nicotine on his own and does not have to wait for a for a doctor's
prescription. No two smokers' habits or cravings are exactly alike,
and quitting smoking is different for everyone. Therefore, therapeutic
nicotine products are available in different strengths, forms and
flavors to help a wide range of smokers ease their withdrawal from
cigarettes.
Additional Smoking Cessation Resources
Giving up smoking is not easy. Smokers benefit from a combination
of behavioral support and effective treatments. GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK) Consumer Healthcare offers smokers a variety of customized
quit-smoking resources, which deal with the cravings from nicotine
addiction and the everyday habits the brain associates with smoking.
GSK offers the widest range of proven therapeutic nicotine products
available, products which can significantly improve a smoker's chance
of quitting successfully and have helped millions of people quit
smoking. In addition, GSK offers several resources and support services
designed specifically to help smokers and non-smokers understand
and address the two components to smoking cessation: nicotine addiction
and habit change.
Way2Quit.com is a new educational website that enables smokers to
develop an initial quit-smoking plan by completing various assessment
tools online. The assessment includes health risks, cravings, smoking
triggers, readiness, dependency and more. The site also includes
helpful tips, quitting resources and virtual coaches. Way2Quit.com
recently introduced entertaining mini-films that illustrate the
overpowering agitation a smoker may experience from the cravings.
Smokers and their loved ones can share their own experiences by
submitting short videos which demonstrate the intensity of nicotine
addiction and illustrate how difficult situational cravings can
be. For more information, visit http://www.Way2Quit.com.
About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is one of the world's largest
over- the-counter consumer healthcare products companies. Its more
than 30 well- known brands include the leading smoking cessation
products, Nicorette(R), NicoDerm(R) and Commit(R), NiQuitin and
Nicabate, as well as many medicine cabinet staples such as Abreva(R),
Aquafresh(R), Sensodyne(R) and Tums(R). GlaxoSmithKline Consumer
Healthcare continues to develop innovative products to help all
smokers find their best support system and achieve their goal of
being cigarette free.
About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical
and consumer healthcare companies. GlaxoSmithKline is committed
to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do
more, feel better and live longer.
The online survey of 808 adult smokers in the U.S. was conducted
in October by Richard Day Research on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline
Consumer Healthcare. The data was weighted to adjust for the age
and gender distribution of U.S. adult daily smokers, using estimates
from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey. The average respondent
was 41 years old and had been smoking for 20 years.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
http://www.Way2Quit.com
Over 5 Million Smokers Successfully Smoke-Free Since Therapeutic
Nicotine Made Available Over-the-Counter A Decade Ago
Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking News
Article Date: 16 Jul 2006 - 0:00 PST
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GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare is marking the 10th anniversary
of when therapeutic nicotine (TN) products became available over-the-counter
(OTC) at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH).GSK's
therapeutic nicotine products have helped more than five million
smokers around the world successfully quit using safe and effective
stop-smoking aids. Yet, there is a significant need to encourage
and educate the more than 1.3 billion current smokers around the
world on how to quit successfully. Shifts in public policy like
smoke-free laws and cigarette tax increases are encouraging more
and more smokers to attempt quitting. It is important that those
smokers have access to counseling, behavioral support programs,
and FDA-approved safe and effective stop-smoking products. At the
conference, GSK will highlight the latest support resources available
to smokers.
"Over the past decade, GSK has made tremendous progress by
helping millions of smokers quit successfully and live longer tobacco-free
lives," said Katie Kemper, vice president, GSK Global Smoking
Control. "But our job is far from over. Smokers must understand
that there is no magic pill. Smokers and health care professionals
need to know that successful quit attempts require breaking the
addiction to nicotine and modifying behavior."
International guidelines from the United States, United Kingdom
and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend TN as a first-line
treatment for smoking addiction. Quitters using therapeutic nicotine
can double their chances of success versus quitting without help.
Therapeutic nicotine products like Nicorette" gum, NicoDerm"
CQ" patch and Commit" lozenge, are available in more than
35,000 retail outlets in the United States and under the NiQuitin
brand name in other countries. These stop smoking aids are designed
specifically to break the daily addiction cycle by offering a gradual,
controlled delivery of nicotine to the body, helping to relieve
cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
"Many smokers wrongly believe they can simply put down their
cigarettes and walk away forever," said Saul Shiffman, PhD,
world-renowned researcher and professor in the departments of psychology
and pharmaceutical science at the University of Pittsburgh. "What
smokers don't realize is while the body clears nicotine relatively
quickly the effects of nicotine can last for months. Therapeutic
nicotine helps safely reduce cravings so a smoker can wean himself
off nicotine gradually, allowing him to focus on changing his behavior."
Nicotine Addiction + Habit Change
Research shows that one-third of all quit attempts fail within
48 hours. Nicotine withdrawal will lead to desperate cravings that
are hard to overcome with willpower alone. Therapeutic nicotine
releases temporary, controlled low doses of nicotine in a steady
stream that ends gradually and it helps to relieve cravings by teaching
the brain to live with less nicotine and then eventually no nicotine.
Tobacco-delivered nicotine re-programs and trains their brain to
connect daily routines with familiar cravings to sustain certain
levels of nicotine. Everyday activities trigger the urge to smoke,
such as drinking coffee in the morning, talking on the phone, taking
a break at work, and driving. During these times, cravings for a
cigarette are actually the brain looking for an intake of nicotine.
Therapeutic nicotine relieves these intense cravings, as it gives
the brain exactly what it needs. It reduces intense cravings and
withdrawal symptoms, helping quitters more easily cope.
Safety and Efficacy of Therapeutic Nicotine
Therapeutic nicotine is extensively proven to reduce and often
eliminate cravings during quitting, allowing smokers to focus on
behavior change. More than 110 studies involving tens of thousands
of participants have demonstrated the safety of therapeutic nicotine,
even in populations with specific health conditions, such as diabetes,
high blood pressure, lung disease, and existing heart disease.
Additional Smoking Cessation Resources
Because quitting cigarettes also requires behavior change, GSK
Consumer Healthcare offers smokers a variety of customized resources
to help smokers and non-smokers understand and address smoking cessation
and address habits formed from smoking. GSK also actively supports
government policies which are proven to motivate smokers to quit,
such as comprehensive clean indoor air legislation and other measures
recommended by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Committed Quitters?
Committed Quitters is the only free, tailored Web-based behavioral
support program that has been proven to increase a smoker's chances
of quitting. This program is available as Click2Quit in the UK.
Participants receive a customized smoking cessation plan after completing
an online questionnaire that gathers information about their habits,
behaviors, and motivations for smoking and quitting. The program
provides coping strategies, advice, and incentives to stay smoke-free,
and has been evaluated in a randomized controlled clinical trial
and shown to increase a quitter's chances by almost 30 percent.
For more information, visit http://www.CommittedQuitters.com.
Phone Counseling
GSK offers smoking cessation counselors to counsel patients five
days a week by calling 1-877-NO ASHES in the U.S.
About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is one of the world's largest
over-the-counter consumer healthcare products companies. Its more
than 30 well-known brands include the leading smoking cessation
products, Nicorette?, NicoDerm? and Commit?, NiQuitin and Nicabate,
as well as many medicine cabinet staples such as Abreva?, Aquafresh?,
Sensodyne? and Tums?. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare continues
to develop innovative products to help all smokers find their best
support system and achieve their goal of being cigarette free.
About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical
and consumer healthcare companies. GlaxoSmithKline is committed
to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do
more, feel better and live longer.
GlaxoSmithKline distributes Nicorette? gum, Nicoderm? patch and
Commit? lozenge in the United States. Outside of the U.S., its smoking
cessation patch and lozenge are marketed as Nicabate? in Australia
and NiQuitin? in other countries.
For more information, please visit the following link:
publicaster.com/info/GSK/smoke_free/index.html.
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