Nicotine Replacement Therapy 

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) has been studied since the late 1960s when Dr. Murray Jarvick of UCLA began researching nicotine addiction and the efficacy of medication in breaking the habit. Dr. Jarvick was responsible for developing the first commercial NRT products that made their way to the market in 1992. 

Pregnant women and people with heart disease should discuss NRT use with their doctors before starting a treatment method. While continuing to smoke is detrimental for these conditions, NRT use may have more risks than other forms of smoking cessation, and smokers looking to quit should discuss their options with a physician. 

The nicotine patch is one of the most widely known methods of smoking cessation. While the patches available in pharmacies are FDA approved, they come with warnings of side effects such as skin rashes at the site where the patch is applied and sleep problems with the 24-hour patches. Users of the all-day patch have reported problems sleeping because of the unusual dose of nicotine while sleeping as well as vivid, often disturbing dreams.