{"id":3805,"date":"2016-03-18T00:34:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T00:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3805"},"modified":"2016-03-18T00:34:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T00:34:28","slug":"study-going-cold-turkey-most-effective-way-to-quit-cigarettes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3805","title":{"rendered":"Study: Going cold turkey most effective way to quit cigarettes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"greaterthanaddiction3\"<\/p>\n

An article in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/a>, researchers say that data shows that quitting cigarettes — and nicotine — cold turkey is basically the most effective way to get off cigarettes.<\/p>\n

The article doesn’t specifically talk about e-cigarettes, patches or nicotine gum, but says that trying to slowly wean oneself off nicotine, rather than just committing fully to a quit date and going through with it is not as effective.<\/p>\n

From the article:<\/p>\n

An article published March 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/em> suggests going \u201ccold turkey\u201d is linked to the highest level of long-term smoking cessation success\u2014smokers in the study who quit abruptly were 25 percent more likely to stop smoking completely over the long term.<\/p>\n

The study involved 697 adult smokers whose primary end goal was to become a nonsmoker; some would try to quit abruptly and the other half would try to stop smoking gradually. (Study participants were randomly assigned to one of the two groups.) After receiving counseling from a nurse, study participants in the abrupt cessation group selected a quit date. Participants in the gradual smoking cessation group arranged to reduce their smoking by 75 percent over the course of two weeks prior to the quit date they selected, also after counseling with a nurse. All study participants in both groups received nicotine therapies such as patches, lozenges and other products to help curb cigarette cravings.<\/p>\n

\"Benefits<\/p>\n

The researchers found that by the fourth week, 39.2 percent of gradual cessation group abstained from cigarettes versus 49 percent of those who went cold turkey. At six months, 15.5 percent of the participants in the gradual cessation group had completely stopped smoking compared with 22 percent of those who quit right away.<\/p>\n

Previous research published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology<\/em><\/a> suggests gradual cessation isn\u2019t very effective because people who choose to slowly wean themselves off nicotine may be tempted to prolong smoking a little longer and drag out the process of quitting. Another study in Addiction<\/em><\/a> finds that in order for gradual cessation programs to work, the motivation to quit actually really needs to exist; smokers who select this type of plan may not be completely<\/em> committed to giving up cigarettes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Twenty-two percent after six months sounds pretty grim, but having known so many people who have tried to quit smoking, I’m not surprised at that figure. It usually takes two, three, four or more attempts to quit to finally succeed. I think my brother made at least half a dozen attempts and failed repeatedly until he finally managed to quit (smokefree for about 18 months now).<\/p>\n

Again, this study doesn’t talk about the effectiveness of gum, patches and e-cigs (smokers can ratchet down the nicotine intake with e-cigs), but I don’t doubt the results one bit. Ultimately, to quit, you simply have to get off the nicotine and stay off it, for weeks or months, before the cravings go away. \u00a0This is one reason, despite the reams and reams of anecdotal evidence I’ve read online about e-cigs, (which I actually \u00a0respect), that I remain skeptical of e-cigs’ effectiveness in getting people off cigarettes. Because e-cigs are not getting people off the nicotine.<\/p>\n

Again, I believe there is no one right way to quit cigarettes — what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another person. Whatever it takes. But, it appears simply setting a date and going “cold turkey” is the most effective way, at least according to this study.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers say that data shows that quitting cigarettes — and nicotine — cold turkey is basically the most effective way to get off cigarettes. The article doesn’t specifically talk about e-cigarettes, patches or nicotine gum, but says that trying to slowly wean oneself off nicotine, rather than … Continue reading Study: Going cold turkey most effective way to quit cigarettes<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[57,517],"tags":[174,518],"class_list":["post-3805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smoking-2","category-smoking-cessation","tag-smoking","tag-smoking-cessation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/greaterthanaddiction3.jpg?fit=1620%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-Zn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3272,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3272","url_meta":{"origin":3805,"position":0},"title":"UK study: E-cigarettes not effective in the longterm in helping smokers quit","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This study is going to go against a lot of anecdotal stories that I see repeatedly on the Internet. A study done in the UK has shown that E-cigarettes are not very effective for helping smokers quit and that most smokers who use E-cigs as a smoking cessation tool are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "E-cig advertising"","block_context":{"text":"E-cig advertising","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=240"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3268,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3268","url_meta":{"origin":3805,"position":1},"title":"CVS study on smoking cessation: When money is on the line, it encourages smokers to quit","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"CVS Pharmacies, which is well-known for pulling all tobacco products out of its chain of drug stores, recently\u00a0helped with\u00a0a study on smoking cessation with some interesting results. Participants in the study were actually recruited by CVS, which apparently is very serious about combating tobacco use. Participants were offered a variety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "CVS Pharmacy"","block_context":{"text":"CVS Pharmacy","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=223"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Smoking_Costs-vi.jpg?fit=634%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Smoking_Costs-vi.jpg?fit=634%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Smoking_Costs-vi.jpg?fit=634%2C467&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3350,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3350","url_meta":{"origin":3805,"position":2},"title":"Poll: E-cigarette use is up, but e-cigs are not necessarily replacing cigarettes","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A very interesting poll this week put out by Reuters kind of confirms what a lot of us have been saying now a few months -- that a small percentage of people using e-cigarettes are using them to quit smoking. According to this poll of 5,679 people, 75 percent of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "e-cigarettes"","block_context":{"text":"e-cigarettes","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=21"},"img":{"alt_text":"e-cig3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3-500x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3455,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3455","url_meta":{"origin":3805,"position":3},"title":"Another study about e-cigs: They’re great! Or at least much better than cigarettes","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"August 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A glowing study about e-cigs out just came out of England this week that in some ways 180 degrees contradicts another study done at the University of Southern California. Public Health England came out with an absolutely glowing report on e-cigs .... so glowing that I'm immediately left a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "e-cigarettes"","block_context":{"text":"e-cigarettes","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=21"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/e-cig-graphic.jpg?fit=964%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/e-cig-graphic.jpg?fit=964%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/e-cig-graphic.jpg?fit=964%2C601&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/e-cig-graphic.jpg?fit=964%2C601&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4226,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4226","url_meta":{"origin":3805,"position":4},"title":"Study: E-cigs more effective than patches, gum for quitting cigarettes","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Three studies came out in one day about e-cigarettes, two very, very negative and the third one with positive news. It sort of sums up the mixed bag that are e-cigs, and sums up the quandary about them. First, the good news. A recent study by Queen Mary University in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/105706920-1548786415115rts2crb5.jpg?fit=740%2C493&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/105706920-1548786415115rts2crb5.jpg?fit=740%2C493&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/105706920-1548786415115rts2crb5.jpg?fit=740%2C493&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/105706920-1548786415115rts2crb5.jpg?fit=740%2C493&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3781,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3781","url_meta":{"origin":3805,"position":5},"title":"A spirited defence of e-cigarettes","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately, I've been posting a lot of negative stories about e-cigarettes and recent studies showing the vapour in e-cigs may not be as benign as c-cig companies would have you believe. 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