Nicotine patches of little use to smokers, study says.

What a Surprise!! I don't suppose many people have given up Heroin by taking Heroin either.

Five years ago, after an angioplasty, I went to the NHS scheme and browbeat my Doctor into prescribing Zyban, which works chemically to suppress the nicotine "hit" which is what smokers actually crave.

With that reward taken away, there was no urge to smoke, and with weekly meetings supplying both monitoring (breathalizer) and support (knowing that about fifteen others were watching to see who fell off the wagon first), it turned out to be simple. In seven weeks I was a non smoker, and I still am.

Immediately prior to that I was smoking 40-50 a day, and had been a heavy smoker for 52 years.

I should have tried it sooner, instead of going through all the patches, sprays and cold turkey to no avail over a ten year period, because I'm now well into the early stages of emphysema.

Don T.