News

Herbal aid for smokers backed

(14 March 2003)

Chinese herbal medicine patches could help millions of UK smokers to quit according to research by Dr Philip Cheung (School for Health).

Unpublished results from Dr Cheung's trials in China show an 84 per cent success rate for people giving up, compared to a rate of 20-30 per cent when using nicotine replacement patches.

The treatment is said to be more effective for smokers who have smoked for less than ten years and between ten and 20 cigarettes a day, suggesting that this could be useful for young smokers. The zhong may ye ke patch is applied to the wrist and works by making cigarettes taste foul.

Once published, Dr Cheung will send the results to the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson.

This items was reported in the Northern Echo (12/03/03)