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New Guideline for Smoking Cessation

On May 7, 2008 the U.S. Public Health Service issued an updated version of guideline for clinical practice identifying new effective counseling methods and clinical treatments for tobacco dependence. It also urged doctors to follow the new guideline when treating tobacco dependence.

The new guideline called Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update was created by the leading national experts in tobacco cessation and sponsored by a consortium of non-profit organizations. Having reviewed thousands of research articles, the authors continue to recommend NRT (nicotine replacement) products such as nicotine gum, nicotine nasal spray, nicotine patch, etc. used to help smokers break their tobacco dependence.

The Guideline, including guides for both clinicians and patients, provides evidence that counseling via special quitlines is an effective assistance in smoking cessation for both adult and adolescent smokers, especially when accompanied by medication treatment. Such quitlines provide access to a broad and diverse audience and are easy to use for both smokers and counselors.

Apart from the new methods of counseling and medication treatment the update also urges clinicians to use motivational treatments to smokers who are unwilling to quit. The Guideline proves that practical counseling, social support and clinical treatment for tobacco cessation are more cost effective then other types of medical interventions and should be included in all insurance plans. According to Michael C. Fiore, M.D., chair of the guideline panel and director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health "Tobacco dependence is a chronic condition that often requires repeated intervention that can lead to long-term abstinence." The newly updated Guideline aims at promoting the use of proven treatments for smoking cessation in order to reduce the use of tobacco that remains on a discouragingly high level.

Nearly 500 thousand Americans die from smoking-related diseases annually. Tobacco dependence is a serious medical condition and most smokers can’t quit without clinical treatment and/or counseling. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence Guideline was first published in 2008 and has become an important contributor to the quality of healthcare services in the USA and the health of American people.

16.05.2008. 10:10

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