Want To Quit Smoking? Take Your Time

There are lots of ways to stop smoking but, as many smokers know too well, few that really stick. The key, according to a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, is time. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, measured the success rates of would-be quitters who received counseling plus the antidepressant nortriptyline or a placebo for either three months or a year. Compared with 18% of patients who were able to quit after short-term drug and behavioral therapy, 50% of those in the long-term group were abstinent at the end of the year. Researchers even found that 42% of the placebo takers were able to quit if they got yearlong counseling.