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. 1984 Sep 15;131(6):589–592.

Chewing nicotine gum for 3 months: what happens to plasma nicotine levels?

M E McNabb
PMCID: PMC1483618  PMID: 6478344

Abstract

Techniques that help patients stop smoking should also reduce their exposure to agents such as nicotine. The mean plasma nicotine levels in 50 subjects while they were still smoking and then while they were chewing pieces of gum containing either 2 or 4 mg of nicotine over a 12-week period of abstinence were 35, 9 and 23 ng/mL (217, 56 and 143 nmol/L) respectively. A small number of subjects given an unlimited supply of gum used 14 to 24 pieces of 4-mg gum daily and had plasma nicotine levels exceeding the levels achieved while smoking. There were no acute symptoms necessitating medical intervention associated with these excessive levels. Side effects were uncommon and usually controllable. When simple dosage rules are followed people who chew nicotine gum for a few months to stop smoking lower their exposure to nicotine.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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