Smoking is one of the leading causes of indoor air pollution. (Photo : Getty Images)
Abrupt cigarette smoking might be the best approach in breaking smokers' bad habit for good, according to a new study from a group of researchers at Oxford University in the United Kiingdom. This could end the misery of those individuals who wanted to kick the habit, as the study showed that abrupt cessation method had 25 percent more chance of quitting successfully among any other methods.
The new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine earlier this week just shows that the abrupt cessation of smoking may be more effective than slowly cutting down the cigarettes' consumption. Nicola Lindson-Hawley, a lead author and post-doctoral researcher, said that individuals' obvious ways to quit smoking are by gradually reducing the number of cigarettes they smoked until they feel ready to finally give up smoking.
The study was conducted in England, where the researchers analyzed the consumption patterns of nearly 700 chain-smokers who wanted to quit smoking. The researchers separated them into two groups - one group was asked to surrender smoking entirely, while the other half were advised to gradually diminish their cigarette consumption in a span of two weeks until they stop.
"The norm is to advise people to stop all at once and our study found evidence to support that," Lindson-Hawley told Reuters Health through e-mail. "What we found was that more people managed to quit when they stopped smoking all in one go than when they gradually reduced before quitting."
The results of the test show that 39.2 percent of the participants in the gradual cessation group were abstinent, contrasted with the 49 percent of individuals who belong to the abrupt cessation group, just 4 weeks after their quit day.
Hence, the researchers therefore concluded that the abrupt cessation method (cold turkey) were 25 percent more inclined to be effective than the group who endeavored to quit gradually, adding that more individuals favored the idea of quitting gradually than abruptly.
Dr. Lindson-Hawley, on the other hand, added that those individuals who find it difficult to make a clean break, cutting down their cigarrete consumption would still be a good technique in kicking the bad habit rather than doing nothing at all. The group of researchers also asked the help of all the health care providers and expressed that the latter should first prescribe individuals to abruptly stop smoking.
Watch the video below to learn more about the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes:
