Zaka Un Nisaa,Ayesha Zafar,Ayesha Zafar
Background: Cigarettes are considered as most addictive product and many people who quit smoking relapse within days. Today the use of tobacco is a greatest preventable cause of death in the world. Several pharmacological interventions are licensed for smoking cessation but other than this there are natural agents which could be very effective in smoking cessation.
Purpose of study: The present study is carried out to find out potential natural agents that could be used for smoking cessation and their mode of action in quitting smoking.
Methodology: An electronic database search was performed in Embase, Medline and other search engines. Different articles were identified and their abstracts and full texts were assessed in the final review.
Results: After a comprehensive research it was found that the natural agents which can be used to stop smoking include fresh lime, black pepper, water, ginger, grape juice, St. John wort, ginseng, calamus, vitamin and antioxidants. Lime basically helps in alkalinizing the tissues which are normally more acidic in tobacco users. The vapours of black pepper oil reduce the craving for cigarettes. St. John’s wort is known to have antidepressant potential and helps in smoking cessation. Calamus removes the residual toxins in the lungs from cigarette smoking thus helps in quitting smoking. Consuming more vitamin C when a person is trying to drop off cigarettes prove to be effective in smoking cessation. Antioxidants decrease nicotine craving in those who are trying to quit smoking without making use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
Conclusion: Overall this study shows that natural agents are effective and affordable, thus in combination with a behavioral support, these agents can be very helpful in quitting smoking.
