Quit-Smoking Products Won't Harm the Heart, Review Finds
Quit-Smoking Products Won't Harm the Heart, Review Finds
But patients should not keep smoking while on nicotine-replacement therapy, experts warn
MONDAY, Dec. 9, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- There's good news for people trying to quit smoking: Aids such as nicotine gums and patches or smoking cessation drugs such as Chantix won't harm the heart.
The new findings may ease concerns that some products that help people "butt out" may pose a threat to heart health, the researchers noted.
One expert said patients sometimes wonder about the safety of certain products.
"Patients are often concerned that nicotine replacement therapies, such as the nicotine gum or patch, will harm them," said Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, a smoking cessation specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "However in most situations, patients are getting more nicotine from their smoking habit than from nicotine replacement when not smoking."
The results "should give reassurance to smokers trying to quit with nicotine replacement therapy, as well as health care practitioners prescribing them, that there is no significant or long-term detrimental effect from their use," Whiteson said.
The new study was led by Edward Mills, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University and Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa. His team analyzed 63 studies, comprising more than 30,500 people, to assess the heart-related effects of nicotine replacement gums and patches, the nicotine addiction treatment varenicline (Chantix), and the antidepressant buproprion (Wellbutrin).
The study found that nicotine replacement therapies temporarily increased the chances of a rapid or abnormal heartbeat, but this most often occurred when people were still smoking while using them. There was no increased risk of serious heart events with these treatments alone, according to the study published Dec. 9 in the journal Circulation.
"These more minor risks are well known to clinicians and usually pass with time. They occur most often when people are taking nicotine replacement therapy and smoking at the same time, which is a bad idea," Mills said in a journal news release.
Whiteson agreed. "Patients are always counseled not to smoke and use nicotine replacement at the same time, as this can lead to an increased risk of side effects from nicotine overdose," he said. "Nicotine replacement protocols are designed to start after the last cigarette is smoked to avoid this."
Quit-Smoking Products Won't Harm the Heart: Review
But patients should not keep smoking while on nicotine-replacement therapy, experts warn
MONDAY, Dec. 9, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- There's good news for people trying to quit smoking: Aids such as nicotine gums and patches or smoking cessation drugs such as Chantix won't harm the heart.
The new findings may ease concerns that some products that help people "butt out" may pose a threat to heart health, the researchers noted.
One expert said patients sometimes wonder about the safety of certain products.
"Patients are often concerned that nicotine replacement therapies, such as the nicotine gum or patch, will harm them," said Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, a smoking cessation specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "However in most situations, patients are getting more nicotine from their smoking habit than from nicotine replacement when not smoking."
The results "should give reassurance to smokers trying to quit with nicotine replacement therapy, as well as health care practitioners prescribing them, that there is no significant or long-term detrimental effect from their use," Whiteson said.
The new study was led by Edward Mills, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University and Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa. His team analyzed 63 studies, comprising more than 30,500 people, to assess the heart-related effects of nicotine replacement gums and patches, the nicotine addiction treatment varenicline (Chantix), and the antidepressant buproprion (Wellbutrin).
The study found that nicotine replacement therapies temporarily increased the chances of a rapid or abnormal heartbeat, but this most often occurred when people were still smoking while using them. There was no increased risk of serious heart events with these treatments alone, according to the study published Dec. 9 in the journal Circulation.
"These more minor risks are well known to clinicians and usually pass with time. They occur most often when people are taking nicotine replacement therapy and smoking at the same time, which is a bad idea," Mills said in a journal news release.
Whiteson agreed. "Patients are always counseled not to smoke and use nicotine replacement at the same time, as this can lead to an increased risk of side effects from nicotine overdose," he said. "Nicotine replacement protocols are designed to start after the last cigarette is smoked to avoid this."
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