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New Research May Encourage Smokers to Jump-Start Their New Year's Resolution to Quit Smoking

Posted on: Monday, 8 December 2008, 06:00 CST

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- While New Year's is the most popular time to try quitting smoking, research shows the majority of smokers who try to quit at that time resume smoking in less than one week.(1) By starting a quit attempt early, smokers can avoid the pressures of a New Year's resolution and may be well on their way toward being smoke-free by January 1st. New research shows that smokers who use the 21 mg NicoDerm(R) CQ(R) nicotine patch every day for the first three weeks of a 10-week treatment significantly improve their chances of success.(2)

The study, published in the November issue of Clinical Therapeutics: The International Peer-Reviewed Journal of Drug Therapy, shows that people who use the 21 mg NicoDerm CQ nicotine patch every day for the first 21 days of quitting were three-times as likely of being smoke-free at the six week point in the course of treatment compared to those who do not wear their patch every day.(2) Further, when used as directed, the NicoDerm CQ patch can significantly increase a smoker's chance of quitting (versus placebo) and remaining smoke-free long-term (6 months or longer).(3)

"Quitting smoking can be one of the toughest New Year's resolutions to keep. The NicoDerm CQ nicotine patch is a hassle free approach to quitting smoking as smokers only need to apply it once-daily," said Saul Shiffman, Ph.D., lead researcher and professor in the departments of psychology and pharmaceutical science at the University of Pittsburgh. "While a smoker may slip and have a cigarette during the quitting process, by no means should they abandon quitting altogether. Smokers should keep wearing the NicoDerm CQ patch every day and it will keep working for you, even if you slip."

To help smokers get started on their pre-New Year's resolutions, NicoDerm CQ is offering a new bonus pack, which offers a free week of nicotine patches during a smoker's first step of therapy. For more information, smokers looking to quit can visit http://www.nicodermcq.com/21days.

Over-the-counter therapeutic nicotine products like the NicoDerm CQ patch, Nicorette gum and Commit lozenge are first-line treatments for smoking cessation and are thoroughly researched, well-understood and highly accessible stop smoking therapies.(4) GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare's therapeutic nicotine products are available without a doctor's prescription, in flexible dosing options at over 35,000 retail outlets across the country.(5) So a smoker who wants to quit doesn't have to wait to see a doctor to get help.

About NicoDerm CQ patch

NicoDerm CQ is the number one doctor-recommended patch to quit smoking. In fact, no treatment -- prescription or OTC -- is proven more effective than Nicoderm CQ in helping smokers quit long term.(5) NicoDerm CQ comes in three different strengths -- all specially formulated to control the release of nicotine for 24 hours. As cravings begin to diminish, this three-step process provides smokers with a lower dosage in each step, which allows a smoker to wean off nicotine gradually and safely. As with any treatment, failure to adhere to dosing instructions on the product label can limit effectiveness. When used as directed, NicoDerm CQ allows a smoker's body to gradually adjust to having less nicotine until eventually he doesn't need any at all. It also helps calm the cravings that make quitting smoking so hard by preventing cravings before they occur and providing more effective relief of cravings than willpower alone. Research has shown that using NicoDerm CQ to quit smoking significantly improves your chances of quitting successfully versus quitting cold turkey.(3)

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) and NicoDerm(R)CQ(R), and Commit(R), as well as many medicine cabinet staples -- alli(R), Aquafresh(R), Sensodyne(R), and TUMS(R) -- which are trademarks owned by and/or licensed to GlaxoSmithKline Group of Companies.

About GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline -- one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies -- is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For company information visit: http://www.gsk.com.

SOURCE GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

Source: PR Newswire

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