(NAPSA)—Most of the nearly 50 million Americans who smoke say they want to quit—according to a recent survey—and many say this is their year to finally kick the habit. That’s good news because smokers who do successfully quit experience health benefits both immediately and long term. Quitting smoking can also save you time, money and the trouble of finding a place where youarestill allowed to light up. The longer a person goes without a cigarette, the more health benefits he or she will see—but knowing that fact does not always make quitting easier for smokers. Experts think those people—and other smokers—maybenefit from a new version of a smoking cessation patch called the NicoDerm CQ ThinFlex. The new ThinFlex patch is designed to be thinner and 25 percent more flexible than the current NicoDerm CQ patch. According to a recent survey, flexibility is the most important physical attribute a patch can have for long term smoking cessation success. Patch size was also important, as was thinness. The new patch is also clear, meaning it can be worn with any type of clothing. “Oneof the barriers that smokers have reported in using previous versionsof the patch has been their discomfort with the patch’s appearance or lack of flexibility,” says Dr. Robin J. Mermelstein, clinical psychologist, smoking cessation researcher and director of A recent survey found that people prefer a thin and flexible smoking cessation patch. the Center for Health Behavior Research at the University ofIllinois at Chicago. Dr. Mermelstein has worked with more than 2,000 smokers in her career and says, “The NicoDerm CQ ThinFlex patch is more flexible than previous patch designs, so smokers may be more interested in using it to help them quit.” People who use the patch could further increase their chances of quitting by finding support online through the Committed Quitters Web site (www.committedquit ters.com). The online resource, whichis free to patch users, is an individualized support program that is clinically proven to increase the chances of successfully quitting. A recent study found that smokers who used the program with the patch increased their chances of quitting by 28 percent when compared to smokers trying to quit using the same product and non-individualized support. For more information visit www.nicodermcq.com.
