Smoking Cessation Management

Smoking cessation (colloquially quitting smoking) is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco contains nicotine, which is addictive, making the process of quitting often very prolonged and difficult.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, and quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of dying from tobacco-related diseases such as heart disease and lung cancer. Seventy percent of smokers would like to quit smoking, and 50 percent report attempting to quit within the past year. Many different strategies can be used for smoking cessation, including quitting without assistance (“cold turkey” or cut down then quit), medications such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or varenicline, and behavioral counseling. The majority of smokers who try to quit do so without assistance, though only 3 to 6% of quit attempts without assistance are successful. Use of medications and behavioral counseling both increase success rates, and a combination of both medication and behavioral interventions has been shown to be even more effective.

Because nicotine is addictive, quitting smoking leads to symptoms of nicotine withdrawal such as craving, anxiety and irritability, depression, and weight gain.. Professional smoking cessation support methods generally endeavor to address both nicotine addiction and nicotine withdrawal symptoms.