Nicotine addiction can be treated through several available options, but can be started in one way – by;
- Evaluating the health status of the patient, smoking history, and level of addiction. You need to intervene with advice and education after the evaluation.
- Educating patients about the cessation process as well as about the benefits of smoking cessation. To achieve that you can provide the expected withdrawal syndrome description and continue with a discussion of the potential cessation methods, which include antidepressant medications, hypnosis, physician counseling, group therapy, nicotine replacement, behavioral training, and quitting "cold turkey."
In addition, the following could treat the nicotine withdrawal and dependence:
- Acupuncture, behavioral treatments, and other therapies
- Drugs that selectively target one or more of the underlying mechanisms
- Other forms of nicotine delivery
Nicotine addiction is also popularly treated through nicotine replacement therapy that partially replaces the nicotine previously obtained from tobacco. Following are the 3 mechanisms by which NRT could be effective
- reducing either general symptoms of withdrawal, consequently allowing people to learn to live without cigarettes,
- reducing the reinforcing tobacco-delivered nicotine effects,
- providing some psychological effects on attention and mood states.
Nicotine addiction is sometimes treated by transdermal nicotine patches method in which nicotine is delivered through the skin at a comparatively steady rate. At present, there are four patch formulations available in the market; they vary widely in their duration of wear (i.e. 24- and 16-h wear), pharmacokinetics, and designs. To enable gradual adjustment to achieve a nicotine free state, increasingly lower doses for some products can be used to supply weaning over a period of many weeks or longer. |