A new report provides further evidence that even when presented with a clear and graphic illustration of the damage that smoking is doing to their health, smokers still have a hard time kicking the habit.
In a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers split over 500 smokers, who smoked an average of a pack a day and were between 40 and 70 years old, into two groups. Both groups participated in a yearlong smoking cessation program that included nicotine replacement therapy and individual counseling sessions. In addition, members of one group were shown ultrasound images of their own carotid arteries, where they could see plaque build-up — a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The idea was that by showing smokers evidence of this potential health danger, they would be extra motivated to quit.
Surprisingly, the researchers did not find any significant differences in quit rates between the two groups. Even smokers who viewed the ultrasound and found they had plaques were not more likely to quit than the screened smokers who had no plaques.
“If people won’t respond to seeing their own arterial plaque, a significant risk factor for both stroke and heart attack, I don’t know what other kind of evidence of health risks could be stronger,” comments ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. “These results suggest that graphic images on cigarette packs might not make much of a difference either.”
And of course, true to form, Dr. Ross points out that while the authors of the study found what many would consider a “high quit rate” — between 22 and 25 percent — this rate is still unacceptably low. “When rates like this are actually considered high, it becomes clear that public health officials need to consider other options for cutting down on smoking in this country, particularly the potential of tobacco harm reduction,” he says.
