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Stop-Smoking therapy: risky in pregnancy
Sept 27, 2007
According to a new study, nicotine replacement gum, patches
or lozenges are widely used by pregnant smokers to quit smoking. The researcher
says, these therapies must have some benefits but also there are some
drawbacks like premature delivery or early birth.
The author of American Journal of Preventive Medicine noted that an independent
safety board suspended recruitment for the study due to health problems
among women. These women were taking nicotine replacement therapy and
the result was premature delivery at about 36 weeks.
Kathryn Pollak, associate professor at Duke University Medical Center,
in Durham, N.C., said "Every pregnant woman wants to quit smoking.
Every woman knows it's bad for her baby,"
The research on 181 female smokers was done in their second trimester
of pregnancy. The smokers were treated with cognitive behavioral therapy,
including in-person and telephone counseling sessions, to help them quitting
smoking. The choice to make use of nicotine replacement therapy in the
form of gum, patches or lozenges was offered to 122 women.
Women cotinine saliva levels were analyzed by researchers to conclude
their smoking status. After seven weeks 25 percent of women had quit.
18 percent of the women using nicotine replacement therapies remained
smoke-free at 38 weeks of conception.
Babies whose mothers smoke are 30 percent more likely to be born prematurely,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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