Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Smoking increases a persons risk many diseases like heart disease and cancer. These diseases often lead to death. Excess body weight (e.g., obesity) also increases a persons risk for these diseases. People are often worried about gaining weight and often say this is why they started, or don't want to quit smoking. Nicotine patches are often used to help people to quit smoking, but sometimes they may not be strong enough to minimize feelings of withdraw or urge to smoke. This study looked at different doses of nicotine patches to see if higher doses could help people quit. This preliminary analysis looked at the characteristics of the study participants, specifically around their concerns about weight, and weight management. At the end of the study, people in the experimental group were slightly less likely to be overweight or obese than people who got lower doses of nicotine. People in the experimental group also had fewer concerns around weight, and weight management. The next step in this analysis is to understand if different levels of nicotine actually helped people quit smoking.