1. Dorothy K. Hatsukami1,2,4,
2. Louise A. Hertsgaard1,
3. Rachel I. Vogel4,
4. Joni A. Jensen1,2,
5. Sharon E. Murphy1,4,
6. Stephen S. Hecht1,4,
7. Steven G. Carmella4,
8. Mustafa al’Absi6,
9. Anne M. Joseph3, and
10. Sharon S. Allen1,5

1. Authors’ Affiliations 1Tobacco Research Programs 2Department of Psychiatry 3Department of Medicine 4Masonic Comprehensive Cancer Center 5Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and 6Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Duluth, Minnesota

1. Corresponding Author
   Dorothy K. Hatsukami, University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Phone 612 626 2121 Fax 612 624 4610 E mail hatsu001 at

Abstract

Background Reduced nicotine content (RNC) cigarettes have led to smoking fewer cigarettes, withdrawal relief, and facilitation of cessation. The aim of this study is to examine the effects RNC cigarettes with and without nicotine patch and patch alone on smoking behavior, toxicant exposure, withdrawal discomfort, and as an exploratory analysis, on long term abstinence.

Methods This study involved a randomized, parallel arm design and six weeks of (i) 0.05 0.09 mg nicotine yield cigarettes (N 79) (ii) 21 mg nicotine patch (N 80), or (iii) 0.05 0.09 nicotine yield cigarettes with 21 mg nicotine patch (N 76) all groups received six weeks of additional behavioral treatment with follow ups up to six months.

Results Combination approach led to lower rates of smoking assigned cigarettes and hence lower carbon monoxide levels than RNC cigarettes alone. In addition, the combination approach was associated with less withdrawal severity when switching from usual brand to assigned product, and less smoking of usual brand cigarettes during treatment, but not after treatment compared with the other approaches.

Conclusion Combining very low nicotine content cigarettes with nicotine patch may improve the acute effects resulting from switching to either of these products alone.

Impact These findings may have implications for smoking cessation treatment or a policy measure to reduce nicotine content in cigarettes. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 22(6) 1015 24. 2013 AACR.

This article is featured in Highlights of This Issue, p. 1005

• Received December 21, 2012.
• Revision received February 25, 2013.
• Accepted March 27, 2013.

• 2013 American Association for Cancer Research.

Doctors unaware that more teens are turning to e-cigarettes

The eu should not impose medicinal regulations on electronic cigarettes or e liquid.
You keep talking about providing a less harmful source of nicotine. But isn’t nicotine itself very bad for you? No, it’s not.

The effects of nicotine itself are similar to that other popular drug, caffeine. See our (nicotine reading list.) There is no evidence that nicotine causes any substantial risk for cancer, and the research shows that the risk for cardiovascular disease is minimal. The confusion about nicotine comes from anti smoking activists talking about nicotine and smoking as if they were the same. While it is true that people smoke mostly because of nicotine nicotine users die mostly because of the smoke.

Neither nicotine nor coffee are completely benign (in particular, both cause a short term increase in your blood pressure and pulse rate when you use them, which could affect your health). A lot of evidence shows that coffee drinking causes very little health risk. Studying nicotine is a bit harder, because most nicotine users smoke, and the smoking is quite bad for you. But there is some good evidence If nicotine were very bad for you then smokeless tobacco, which provides nicotine, would be very bad for you. As we’ve shown elsewhere, that is not the case.

Though nicotine is relatively safe for most individuals, it may have a negative effect on fetal development and as such should be avoided during pregnancy