Stop smoking aids: do they work?

Other non-nicotine products
These are many and varied. They are easily available through mail-order, newsagents, health shops or chemists. Often they do not require a licence under the Medicines Act. There is not enough good scientific evidence to say how effective they are. Be wary of claims of very high success rates.

Capsules
These contain menthyl valerate, quinine, camphor and eucalyptus oil and are aimed at improving breathing and controlling withdrawal symptoms. The manufacturers recommend 1-2 per day for 28 days. There is no evidence of their long-term efficacy, but they are not thought to be harmful. Pregnant women should not use them.

Dummy cigarettes
A plastic lookalike that lasts between 1-3 months. Provides the hand-to-mouth stimulation of smoking. They do not help with the physical withdrawal symptoms. They are of no proven benefit, but they are not shown to be harmful.

Herbal cigarettes
Again these provide the activity of smoking without the nicotine, so they do not help with withdrawal symptoms. They still contain tar and poisonous carbon monoxide gas, which are found in ordinary cigarettes and which cause considerable damage to your health. There is no evidence that they are effective.

Filters
Put on the end of a cigarette they are designed to remove some of the tar and nicotine before you inhale. Yet smokers tend to compensate for the drop in nicotine by puffing longer and harder or even covering up the filter to stop it working so well.

Mouthwash
Mouthwash is supposed to work by making cigarettes taste unpleasant. The product recommends you gargle with it for about 15 seconds whenever you feel a strong desire to smoke. It affects the taste of cigarettes for three to four hours, but it also adversely affects the taste of food for about a half an hour. Pregnant women are advised to check with their doctor before using it.

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