Exellent piece in The Huffington Post on the health care system's failure to adequately tap the tobacco cessation resources that have been scientifically proven to be effective.
"The lag between what we know about helping smokers and what we do to help them opens a window into the gaping hole between scientific knowledge and clinical practice," writes Dr. Daniel Seidman, Director of Smoking Cessation Services at Columbia University Medical Center. In the article, Seidman cites studies showing the effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
"These scientific advances offer smokers proven pathways to quitting and avoiding relapse. Yet the medical community -- doctors, dentist, health professionals -- has not yet adopted this comprehensive approach, despite adverse effects of smoking on the health of their patients," he says. "Rarely is this most effective treatment (NRT plus CBT) offered to smokers, despite the potential leverage of combining both these scientific advances."
"Helping smokers quit in a more holistic way is supported by science," he concludes. "It is also likely to be one of the most cost-effective ways to lower the nation's health care costs, and help end the tremendous suffering caused by this most prevalent addiction."
