Mayo Clinic recruiting teens for smoking cessation studies

Friday, February 21, 2003

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 21, 2003 — Researchers at Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Research Center in Jacksonville are recruiting young smokers ages 11 to 18 to participate in two novel smoking cessation studies funded by the National Institutes of Health.

One study will evaluate the effectiveness of an Internet, home-based, support system. The other study will combine the use of the drug bupropion with either a minimal counseling intervention or four, parent-adolescent counseling sessions. Bupropion is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in adult smoking cessation programs, but it has not been widely studied in teens.

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of sickness, death and excess health-care costs in the United States. Nearly half a million Americans die each year from smoking-related disease.

Despite commitment of substantial resources to prevention over the past two decades, the number of teens lighting up is increasing. If this trend continues, the public health burden of smoking will become even greater. "Even in teens who smoke very little, even not on a daily basis, there are identifiable health consequences early on," says Dr. Steven Ames, a principal investigator with Mayo's Nicotine Research Center. "The notion that it's not really that big of a deal, because they're still so young and healthy, really isn't true." In addition, Ames says that 90 percent of those teens will become lifelong smokers.

Still, few smoking cessation studies have been conducted with adolescents. Ames hopes these two studies, however, will attract young people who want to quit.

Parents or teens interested in quitting smoking may call the Nicotine Research Center at (904) 953-0920 for more information. Remuneration will be offered.

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