Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Effectiveness: up to 55% (1 in 2 people quit for 12 months or more)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an psychological approach to dealing with smoking. Smokers continue to smoke throughout the treatment which consists of rational logic and evaluation of smoking.


The process does not dwell on the ill effects of smoking but on the actual behavioural aspects of smoking including the triggers that make people smoke. CBT effectively changes the way smokers think about smoking and often leads to a complete change in attitude towards smoking.

CBT can be obtained from specialist quit smoking centres which will be available in your area or smokers can simply read about this method for quitting smoking.

There is one downloadable resource on the internet for cognitive behavioural therapy to quit smoking, found on the EasyQuit System website. Click this link:
EasyQuitSystem.com

Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Effectiveness: 10% (1 in 10)

All forms of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can help people quit smoking, almost doubling long term success rates

NRT aims to reduce withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping smoking by replacing nicotine in the blood. NRT is available as chewing gum, patches for the skin, nose spray, inhalers, and tablets. The review of trials found that all these forms of NRT made it more likely that a person's attempt to quit smoking would succeed. There is no evidence that one form of NRT is better than any other. NRT works with or without additional counselling.

Chantix (varenicline)

Effectiveness: 22% (1 in 5)

Chantix (Champix in the UK) or varenicline tartrate is a new type of quit smoking pill that interferes with the brain chemistry interactions found in smokers. The varenicline stops nicotine working on the smoker so reducing their will to smoke (as there is no benefit/reward associated with smoking)

Chantix does have many side effects although most of them are the same as the side effects of nicotine withdrawal to a greater or lesser extent. The most significant side effects are nausea which is found in 15% of people on the low starting dose and 30% of people on the 1mg main dose. The other main side effects are insomnia and headaches.

Zyban (bupropion, wellbutrin)

Effectiveness: 16% (4 in 25 or 1 in 6.25) compared to 1 in 20 for cold turkey

Two medications used to treat depression, bupropion and nortriptyline, help smokers who are trying to quit.

Trials of bupropion (Zyban) for smoking cessation indicate that it can approximately double the odds of quitting. The side effects of bupropion include insomnia, dry mouth and nausea. This medication can also cause seizures; at the dose used for smoking cessation the risk is estimated to be 1 in 1000. The tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline also doubles quit rates. The side effects of this medication include dry mouth, constipation, nausea, and sedation, and it can be dangerous in overdose. The efficacy of bupropion and nortriptyline appears to be similar to that for nicotine replacement and not restricted to people with a history of depression or depressive symptoms during smoking abstinence. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (for example, fluoxetine) have not consistently been shown to help smoking cessation.

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Silver Acetate

Effectiveness: 5% (1 in 20) as per cold turkey

Silver acetate does not appear to help smokers quit

Silver acetate products (gum, lozenge, and spray) produce an unpleasant metallic taste when combined with cigarettes, so they are used as a form of aversion therapy for smoking. However, the review of trials found little evidence to show that silver acetate helps smokers quit. Any beneficial effect of silver acetate is likely to be very small, and less than the effect already proven for nicotine replacement therapy.

Lobeline

Effectiveness: 5% (1 in 20) as per cold turkey

No evidence from trials that Lobeline can help people quit smoking

Lobeline is an alkaloid derived from the leaves of an Indian tobacco plant, and has been widely used in commercial smoking remedies. Its adverse effects include dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, and tablets and pastilles containing Lobeline may lead to throat irritation. The review found no adequate longterm trials which could provide evidence that Lobeline can help people stop smoking. Even short-term studies do not indicate a consistent effect on smoking behaviour.

Aversion Therapy

Effectiveness: Possibly up to 10% (1 in 10)

Aversion therapy for smoking has not been shown conclusively to be effective, but it may be worth further research.

Aversion treatments pair undesirable behaviours with negative sensations. In smoking cessation, several approaches have been suggested such as rapid smoking, which requires smokers to take a puff every few seconds to make smoking unpleasant. The results of the existing trials suggest that this may be effective, but the evidence is not conclusive because most of the studies of this approach have methodological problems. A recent laboratory study also suggests that the method has an active ingredient. Further research may be worthwhile.

Nicobrevin

Effectiveness: 5% (1 in 20)

There is no evidence that Nicobrevin aids long term smoking cessation

Nicobrevin is a proprietary product containing quinine, menthyl valerate, camphor and eucalyptus oil marketed as an aid to smoking cessation. No randomized trials with long term follow up of smoking status were identified, so there was no evidence to assess efficacy.

Hypnosis

Effectiveness: 5% (1 in 20)

Hypnotherapy is widely promoted as a method for aiding smoking cessation. It is proposed to act on underlying impulses to weaken the desire to smoke or strengthen the will to stop.

The main outcome measure was abstinence from smoking after at least six months follow up in patients smoking at baseline. We used the most rigorous definition of abstinence in each trial, and biochemically validated rates where available. Those lost to follow up were counted as smokers. Where possible, we performed meta-analysis using a fixed-effect model.

Main results

Nine studies compared hypnotherapy with 14 different control interventions.

There was significant heterogeneity between the results of the individual studies, with conflicting results for the effectiveness of hypnotherapy compared to no treatment or to advice. We therefore did not attempt to calculate pooled odds ratios for the overall effect of hypnotherapy. There was no evidence of an effect of hypnotherapy compared to rapid smoking or psychological treatment.

Authors' conclusions
We have not shown that hypnotherapy has a greater effect on six month quit rates than other interventions or no treatment.

The effects of hypnotherapy on smoking cessation claimed by uncontrolled studies were not confirmed by analysis of randomized controlled trials.

There are several products on the market to help people quit smoking using hypnosis. The ones listed here are available for immediate download:

Richard MacKenzie Downloads
Quit Smoking Expert
Freshstart Method
Quit Smoking Right Now

Nicocure

Effectiveness 5% (1 in 20)

Nicocure is a patch designed to infuse herbal substances into the blood stream. It is supposed to counteract the cravings associated with quitting smoking.

There is no evidence to suggest that Nicocure is an effective method for quitting smoking.

Cold Turkey

Effectiveness: 5%

Cold turkey is one of the least effective ways of quitting smoking, however, people who manage to quit smoking cold turkey tend to stay quit, constituting over 85% of all former smokers.

Cold turkey is the benchmark against which most other studies are compared.

Herbal Remedies

Effectiveness: 5%

Herbal remedies are often touted as being effective for helping smokers quit the habit. Scientific review has not found herbal cures to be effective.

Laser Therapy

Effectiveness: 5%

Laser therapy is based on acupunture principles but instead of using needles, the process uses laser light to stimulate the parts of the body where the needles would normally be inserted.

Scientific reviews have not found laser therapy to be an effective means of quitting smoking.

Acupuncture

Effectiveness: 5%

Acupuncture has not been proven to be an effective means of quitting smoking. Anecdotally, people claim to have had lots of success with acupuncture. Scientific studies have found acupunture to be no more effective than cold turkey without support.