Teen smokers reject nicotine nasal spray

NEW YORK A study published in the journal Pediatrics suggests that teenagers are not more likely to quit smoking if they use nicotine nasal spray.

Teenagers using the spray, which usually works in adults, complained of side effects such as burning in the nostrils, foul smells and others and stopped using it altogether or didn’t use it often enough.

Other treatments often didn’t work either. Nicotine patches, for example, gave doses too large, leading to jumpiness and nightmares, but doses still didn’t relieve nicotine cravings.

The study involved 40 teenagers aged 15 to 18 who smoked at least five cigarettes a day over the previous six months. The teenagers were divided into groups who received eight weeks of counseling, six weeks of the spray or a combination of the two treatments. The researchers found no difference between the groups that received the counseling only and the counseling plus the spray. Among those who received the spray only, 57 percent stopped after a week.