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Doctors Test Anti-Smoking Vaccine
The FDA recently moved to block some companies promoting low-power laser therapy, or laser acupuncture, as a way to quit, and a consumer's group is seeking action against a bottled water product that contains nicotine.
"We've got 20 million Americans trying to quit. Among those trying, less than 20 percent are using evidence-based treatments," said Dr. Michael Fiore, director of the tobacco research center in Madison.
  University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention study participant Mario Musachia, 75, gets an injection from Donna Muehlenbruch Monday, July 10, 2006, in Madison, Wis. Doctors are testing a radical new way to help smokers quit: a shot that "immunizes" them against the nicotine rush. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) (Morry Gash - AP) Save & Share |
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The vast majority of these visit a doctor for routine care, yet "few of them, less than a third, leave that encounter with evidence-based advice on how to quit smoking," he lamented.
Regardless of whether the experimental vaccine or other novel approaches ultimately prove successful, they already have had a positive effect _ giving some smokers fresh motivation, Jorenby said.
"Every time there's a new treatment for smoking cessation, there are people who have never tried to quit, or haven't tried for a long time, who are going to give it a shot," he said. "People benefit from practice. It usually takes several tries."
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On the Net:
Tobacco research center: http:/
Nicotine vaccine: http:/