Smoking: You Can Get Help to Stop

Nicotine craving is a major hurdle. Some people try to kick the smoking habit by applying an antidepressant drug delivered through a patch on the skin, hopefully to reduce the craving, making it easier to quit. The drug proved not to be better than a placebo.

According to studies taken place at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, Dr. Joel D. Killen and his team determined that successful smoking cessation has to be a combination of pharmacologic aids and behavioral changes.

Good news from Medicare:

"Medicare will now pay for cessation counseling for any beneficiary who wants to quit (smoking). Until now, this service was covered only for Medicare recipients who had a smoking-related illness or symptoms of such an illness," according to a 9/1/2010 article written by Eleni Berger.

Smokers will be able to get counseling for 2 cessation attempts (at 4 sessions per attempt) but a qualified physician or other Medicare-recognized practitioner must provide the counseling.

Medicare Part D allows Medicare beneficiaries who are eligible to get prescription medication that can help the process.

Source: MedlinePlus, health information from the National Library of Medicine

For more on smoking, visit 50somethinginfo.com