Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the impact of nicotine gum on cigarette smoking cessation plans and its potential cardiovascular effects.
Methodology: This observational cohort study was conducted from 16th June 2023 to 31st March 2024. The stratified sampling technique was used to select 220 smokers into two groups (yellow & green) considering 10% of participants leaving halfway, of age groups ranging from 18 to 63 years. The yellow group participants were provided placebo gums and the green group participants were provided nicotine gums. Participants were examined clinically including echocardiography during weekly follow-up visits. Data were analyzed on MS Excel sheets.
Result: The demographic data showed that 61% of the participants were males aged 18 to 28 and were of lower socioeconomic status and of urban background. The green group showed smoking cessation, craving gum, hypertension, tachycardia, and ECG abnormalities in 21%, 13%, 9%, 8%, and <2%, respectively. The yellow group showed smoking cessation, craving gum, hypertension, tachycardia, and ECG abnormalities in 5%, 12%, 6%, 4%, and <3%, respectively. The commonest side effect observed in the green group was bad taste in 36% of the cases. The commonest side effect observed in the yellow group was oral ulcers, in 6.5% of the cases.
Conclusion: Nicotinic gums did provide some success in smoking cessation. However, 23% of individuals remained smoking-free after stopping the provision of free-of-cost gums. The cardiovascular adverse effects were observed in only in less than 10% of individuals.

Key words: Nicotine, cigarette smoking, public health.