Special interest: Smoking cessation

Effectiveness of smoking cessation aids varies between different types of smokers, a survey-based UK study has found. The data presented in this large, representative sample may provide useful information for GPs and other treatment providers in tailoring quit smoking advice to individual patients.

Nearly 40% of smokers and former smokers believe it is the nicotine in cigarettes that causes cancer, a UK study has found.

One year smoking cessation rates were significantly higher in those who used e-cigarettes compared with those using traditional nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, in a UK prospective study. However, many more of those on e-cigarettes who had quit ordinary cigarettes still used the substitute while most of those who quit using NRT were free from treatment.

A steady decline in cigarette smoking in adults between 1993 and 2017 and a decrease in the number of both men and women drinking at harmful levels between 2011 and 2017 are key findings from the Health Survey for England (HSE) 2017. Nevertheless, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death and alcohol remains a causal factor in numerous medical and mental health conditions, including cancer, cirrhosis, hypertension, depression, and accidents and injuries.

A large UK trial found clear evidence that quitting smoking abruptly was superior in both the short- and longer-term to gradual cessation. The researchers concluded that in clinical practice patients should be encouraged to stop smoking abruptly and not gradually. 

Taking data from five large US cohort studies, the authors of this present study posed the question: ‘Do current official estimates underestimate the deaths caused by smoking?' Overall, the excess mortality for smokers within the study population was 2.8 times that of never smokers and 17% of excess mortality was related to diseases not formally associated with smoking.

Smokers with a history of anxiety, mood or alcohol use disorders are significantly more likely to be in remission three years later if they quit smoking, an American study has found. Smoking cessation may increase the likelihood of remission, but equally, those who recover may find it easier to quit smoking.

18% of all deaths in adults aged 35 or over in England are still attributable to smoking. Almost all these premature deaths could be avoided if smokers stopped before their mid-thirties but only a quarter of people who have ever smoked regularly manage to quit by this age. GP advice is one of the most important triggers to a smoker making an attempt to quit. Evidence shows that offering help to all smokers is easier, quicker and likely to be more effective than just advising smokers to stop or asking whether they are interested in quitting.