Letter to the Editor
USA Today
Letter to the EditorPublished in USA Today
January 9, 2003
Nicotine patch helps
The risk of lung cancer among smokers is well known. Yet, almost five years of evidence from a National Institutes of Health study of people using nicotine replacement therapy to quit smoking has found zero increased risk of lung cancer to date.Using patches, gum or nasal spray has doubled the rate at which smokers quit compared to those who do not use them. And the Surgeon General recommends nicotine replacement therapy as a first-line therapy.
Despite such findings, a USA TODAY article based on a Journal of Clinical Investigation report says nicotine "may be a powerful promoter of lung cancer." Similar reports were aired by television media ("Nicotine may promote lung cancer," News, Jan. 2).
The fact remains that the most important action for a smoker to take is to quit, and nicotine replacement medications have proven effective in helping smokers do that. Users of the patch, gum or nasal spray should not consider dropping the use of their medication.
The risk posed by tobacco smoking is far greater than the theoretical risk addressed in this one piece of research.
Jessie C. Gruman, president
Center for the Advancement of Health
Washington
