Home

Asthma News

Current News Story

The Facts About Nicotine Replacement Therapy

April 2008

According to the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) almost five million Canadians aged 15 and older use tobacco. One popular method to quit smoking is to use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). NRT makes it easier to avoid tobacco products because it replaces the nicotine that would normally be obtained from tobacco.

Contrary to popular belief, nicotine itself is not the harmful substance in a cigarette. It is however, the addictive part of a cigarette and what keeps people wanting to light up. When used properly, the advantage of NRT is that it allows people to get their nicotine from a source that does not also expose them to thousands of other toxic chemicals. There are more than 4000 chemicals in cigarettes that are responsible for many tobacco-related diseases including: lead, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, acetone, arsenic and ammonia.

In a recent Position Paper entitled: Rethinking Stop Smoking Medications: Treatment, Myths and Medical Realities, January 2008 by The Ontario Medical Association, it states that there are many myths about the use of NRT.

Myth #1
That many people believe that nicotine addiction is the same regardless of whether or not it is smoked in a cigarette or obtained through the use of NRT.

This is not true. Cigarettes are worse because of the way they are used. Inhaling nicotine from cigarettes is quickly absorbed through the lungs, travels through the bloodstream and reaches the brain in seconds. This rapid response leads to a greater addiction. NRT in the form of the patch, the gum or the inhaler takes longer to reach the brain and is therefore less addictive.

Myth #2
Some believe that NRT is not safe for smokers.

The fact is NRT is safe. NRT allows people to get nicotine without having to smoke a cigarette. It can help to reduce or eliminate cigarette smoking completely.

Myth #3
People cannot use NRT because they have heart disease for example.

At The Lung Association’s Asthma Action™ Helpline our response is: NRT replaces the need for nicotine from a cigarette. What we know of cigarette smoking is that it is far worse. Cigarette smoking is also a major trigger for people with asthma. NRT may actually assist people to
successfully butt out!

For more information, please call The Lung Association’s Asthma Action Helpline at 1-800-668-7682 or visit www.on.lung.ca.

News Archive