'Cravings last less than five minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over' or 'This is it! - QUIT DAY, throw away all your fags. TODAY is the start of being QUIT forever, you can do it!' are some examples of supportive and encouraging messages used as a therapy to help smokers quit this habit. The study, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, shows text messages are a very convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit smoking.

The findings of TXT2STOP project shows how text messaging could be an innovative and effective approach to help smokers. The researchers evaluated 5,800 subjects to assess the success of using text messaging to help smokers quit; specifically, they examined the long-term effects of specially designed text messages by testing the levels of cotinine (a chemical found in tobacco) found in the subjects' saliva after they said they had stopped smoking for six months.

Firstly, the subjects were randomly allocated to one of two groups: trial or control. The former group was sent five text messages each day for an initial 5-week period. Then three text messages each week for the next 26 weeks. In this latter period, the participants received messages via a personalised system, enabling instant messages at times of need by texting the word 'crave' or 'lapse'. Professionals who help smokers quit as well as smokers themselves contributed to the development of messages. On the other hand, subjects in the control group didn't received supportive and encouraging messages, they only received text messages every 14 days thanking them for participating in the trial.

The findings indicate that continuous abstinence, corroborated by chemical tests, at 6 months was significantly increased in the TXT2STOP group - 10.7% success compared with 4.9% success of the control group. The trial worked well for all ages and across all social groups. The main conclusion drawn up by the researchers was that the mobile-phone text-messaging smoking-cessation support doubles quit rates at six months.

Over five million people die from smoking each year. Only two out of three people are willing to butt out their habit for good. This study and other initiatives, such as the new European campaign in the fight against tobacco, could be a powerful tool to help people to walk away from cigarettes for good.