Tolerability of concurrent use of nicotine gum and smoking in healthy volunteers.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide), published as a randomized controlled trial.

Although nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is mainly licensed as an aid for smoking cessation, many smokers alternate NRT with cigarettes.

This study evaluated the cardiovascular tolerability of nicotine gum plus smoking.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, placebo-controlled and crossover.

Because people in this Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

Plasma nicotine, ECG variables (ST60 and ST(slope)), heart rate, and blood pressure were measured at rest and during/after 5 min exercise tests.

What Was Measured

This study evaluated the cardiovascular tolerability of nicotine gum plus smoking.

Mean plasma nicotine levels were higher with gum plus smoking than with either gum or smoking alone.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Blood Pressure, Carbon Monoxide, Chewing Gum, Drug Tolerance, Health Status, Heart Rate and Nicotine.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, placebo-controlled and crossover study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

The publication is from 2001 (Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco), a journal based in England.

More context: the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) compound page, all human trials.