Volume 6 Issue 11 November, 2016
❌Tobacco use is just a common habit which most of the people have now a days
✅Tobacco use in varying severity is classified as addictive disorder in International classification of Diseases under Mental & Behavioral Disorders (category F).
❌Tobacco is not as addictive as ‘drugs’ like cocaine and heroin
✅Tobacco with its psychoactive substance called ‘Nicotine’ is one of the most addictive substances, probably more than any drug, perhaps addictive from the first use itself in vulnerable individuals.
❌Quitting tobacco is easy with just ‘will power’
✅In fact most of the people especially with moderate and heavy use find it difficult to quit just by ‘will power’ and frequently relapse within few days
❌Medicated chewing gums as shown in ads can be used whenever in the place of tobacco to quit it
✅When not used properly, without sufficient replacement dose calculated per day & individualized to each person, it may be ineffective as nicotine gums often fail to give full effect of tobacco products. This is the basis of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
❌There are no effective treatments for Tobacco cessation
✅There are established treatments, using partial agonists like Varenicline, and other medications like Bupropion and Nortriptyline, along with NRT and psychosocial therapies, long term (> 1year) abstinence rates are high.
