Method of reducing the harmful effects of orally or transdermally delivered nicotine

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to the reduction of the harmful effects of orally or transdermally delivered nicotine in conventional tobacco-use cessation programs. More specifically, embodiments concern methods of reducing the harmful effects of nicotine intake, associated with conventional tobacco-use cessation programs, by providing tobacco products, which contain a reduced amount of nicotine and / or tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of priority to, international patent application number PCT / US2004 / 016958, filed May 27, 2004, which designated the United States of America and was published in English and which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 60 / 475,945, filed Jun. 4, 2003; this application is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of priority to PCT / US2005 / 10733, filed Mar. 29, 2005, which designated the United States of America and was published in English and which claims the benefit of priority to No. 60 / 557,929, filed Mar. 30, 2004; this application is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 077,752, filed Mar. 10, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 729,121, filed Dec. 5, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,907,887, which is a continuation of PCT / US2002 / 18040,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] In 1967, when the FTC introduced its testing method, it issued a news release and explained that the purpose of the testing “is not to determine the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled by any human smoker, but rather to determine the amount of tar and nicotine generated when a cigarette is smoked by a machine in accordance with the prescribed method.” Nevertheless, the method serves an important role in providing an accurate way to rank and compare cigarettes according to tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide yields.

[0027] As described above, some of the tobaccos described herein contain an amount of exogenous nicotine. More specifically, some of the tobaccos described herein comprise an amount of exogenous nicotine (e.g., nicotine prepared by extraction of conventional tobacco or synthetically prepared nicotine) so as to adjust the content of the nicotine in the tobacco to a desirable level, which allows for fine adjustments in the amount of nicotine present in a tobacco product that comprises this tobacco and, accordingly, fine adjustments in the amount of nicotine provided to a tobacco user. Preferably, the tobacco is maintained in a microbe-free environment after addition of the exogenous nicotine so as to prevent the accumulation of TSNAs. Accordingly, the tobacco products described herein can include exogenous nicotine and the tobacco-use cessation kits and tobacco-use cessation methods described herein can include these exogenous nicotine-containing tobacco products.

Problems solved by technology

Although these conventional products of NRT may help tobacco users by suppressing the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, they do little to satisfy a tobacco user's cravings for the habitual use of the delivery system.

In addition to the fact that conventional NRT does little to quell the secondary factors of addiction, NRT has had only limited success in enabling people to quit tobacco use.

One study, however, goes so far as to say that NRT is no longer effective in increasing long-term successful cessation in California smokers.

Clearly, it appears that tobacco addiction is a complex web of psychological factors (i.e., the secondary factors) coupled with nicotine dependence and existing NRT is largely ineffective.

In practice, however, many program participants only replace the addiction for tobacco with a far more expensive addiction to the NRT product.

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