New cessation therapy more like smoking

DURHAM, N.C., March 11 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest delivering nicotine to the lungs may give smokers a good way to kick the habit.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., have been developing a method to deliver nicotine to the lungs that recreates some of the familiar sensations pleasurable to smokers.

"We wanted to replicate the experience of smoking without incurring the dangers associated with cigarettes, and we wanted to do so more effectively than the nicotine replacement therapies currently on the market," Jed Rose, director of the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, says in a statement.

So far the new nicotine vapor delivery system has been more effective at delivering nicotine to the blood stream and providing immediate relief of withdrawal symptoms. Users of the system also report less of the throat irritation experienced with other types of inhalers.

Other methods now used -- metered dose sprays, dry powder inhalers or nebulizers that create a fine mist -- often deposit nicotine residue in the mouth and throat so less reaches the lungs and doses may not be high enough, Rose says.

Rose presented the findings at the Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research meeting in Baltimore.