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Research Shows Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Help Smokers Cut Back

BOSTON (CBS) - New research shows low-nicotine cigarettes may help people light up less.

For years, tobacco companies marketed so called light cigarettes making smokers believe they were healthier though they really weren't.

Now we're talking about cigarettes with lower levels of nicotine, the compound that is responsible for tobacco addiction. And researchers wanted to know, what would smokers do if they smoked cigarettes with lower nicotine? Would they smoke more cigarettes to compensate? The answer is no.

The study published in today's New England Journal of Medicine looked at 800 smokers and had them use cigarettes with nicotine levels as high as 15.8 mg, the amount found in most commercial cigarettes, down to 0.4 mg of nicotine.

After six weeks they found that smokers who used the low-nicotine cigarettes smoked fewer cigarettes, experienced fewer withdrawal symptoms between cigarettes, and were more likely to want to quit.

Experts say longer studies are needed before formal recommendations are made.

For more information, check out Dr. Mallika's Harvard Health Publications blog.

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