Far too many people believe in the existence of a panacea, something that will cure all disease. This common and false belief allowed the snake oil salesmen of today and and for centuries to promise simple cures and get away with selling false hope. Although I may be wrong, and I have argued with many people about this, I believe there is no one cure for anything. There are many cures for most ailments and probably the best cure is some combination. And because medicine is heading in the direction of individualization, it may take a lot of research to find what works for you.

As this relates to quitting smoking, I have come across more and more evidence and expert opinions that combinations of smoking cessation aids will give anyone the best possible chance of quitting success. Evidence of this first came to my attention during the trial of Quit Tea. Of the 65 people enrolled in the trial, 40% were successful at quitting. But I started to look deeper into the data and conduct interviews with people, and found that for those who had used Quit Tea and used some other type of smoking cessation aid concurrently, the success rate was near 100%!

The combinations varied: There was Quit Tea and Chantix, Quit Tea and some form of nicotine replacement, Quit Tea - NRT - and a support group, or even Quit Tea and some other natural remedy. At first this was a surprise since everyone in the trial had tried to quit smoking on average 5 previous times. I thought "why would anyone try a product and fail, then try it again?" But I realized most people blamed themselves and not the product.

The American Cancer Society has even mentioned in some of its smoker's guide literature that combinations can be highly affective. They only focus on pharmaceutical options for which there have been scientific studies and FDA approval, but mention that combinations such as bupropion (Zyban, the antidepressant) and nicotine replacement therapy has been show to have a higher success rate than either therapy alone. The American Cancer Society does do a short mention of alternative therapies, for which category Quit Tea would fall under, and says that some can be helpful but people should do their research before trying.

There is no harm in trying many smoking cessation aids, and many combinations. It is not dangerous like "mixing meds" (taking bad combinations of prescription medications) can often be. The one exception would taking be Chantix and Zyban together, don't do it! Even if you wanted to though, highly doubt any doctor would prescribe both. The combinations are endless. It is like I have been saying, change your lifestyle and quitting smoking will be easy. Lots of little changes that include support groups and information, getting more physical activity, using support aids, there are all part of effective combination smoking cessation therapy.