Here's how you can help smokers kick that butt

ACCORDING to a study, when smokers- who are trying to quit-are allowed to regulate their nicotine intake, it helps them kick the habit.

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Led by the Queen Mary University of London, the research has been published in the journal Addiction.

In the first study to tailor nicotine dosing based on smokers’ choices while trying to quit, the results suggest that most smokers who use stop-smoking medications can easily tolerate doses that are four times higher than those normally recommended.

The author of the study Dunja Przulj from the Queen Mary University of London said: “Smokers determine their nicotine intake while they smoke, but when they try to quit, their nicotine levels are dictated by the recommended dosing of the treatment. These levels may be far too low for some people, increasing the likelihood that they go back to smoking.”

“Medicinal nicotine products may be under dosing smokers and could explain why we’ve seen limited success in treatments, such as patches and gum, helping smokers to quit. A change in their application is now needed,” he said.