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" Licensed medicines and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can help people to give up smoking, a review has shown. Researchers at the University of Oxford conducted an overview of previous Cochrane reviews in order to determine whether or not these therapies are effective smoking cessation aids. These included data from 267 studies involving more than 101,000 people. The reviewers concluded that NRT, the antidepressant bupropion and the drug varenicline - all of which are licensed for smoking cessation in Europe - improve smokers&amp;#039; chances of stopping smoking for six months or more. Another drug called cytisine, which is currently only licensed in Russia and other parts of eastern Europe, was also shown to be effective. Two recent trials suggest that cytisine may be associated with an almost four-fold improvement in the chances of giving up smoking than a placebo (dummy drug). This compares with 80 per cent higher odds of quitting with a single NRT or bupropion, compared with placebo, and two to three times higher odds with varenicline. Kate Cahill, whose findings are published in the Cochrane Library, concluded: &amp;#039;Although cytisine is not currently licensed for smoking cessation in most of the world, these data suggest it has potential as an effective and affordable therapy.&amp;#039; NHS figures for April to December 2012 show that 64 per cent of those who set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Services used NRT alone, with 26 per cent receiving varenicline only and one per cent opting for bupropion. Success rates were 61 per cent for those on varenicline, 55 per cent for bupropion users and 47 per cent for those using NRT. Read the abstract in the Cochrane Library "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a23933/stop-smoking-drugs-are-effective/>