January 2007 « Chantix News HomeNew Drug Helps Smokers Quit Roughly 440,000 people die of cigarette smoking-related illnesses each year in the United States, yet about 25% of the U.S. population smokes. Former smoker Diana Smith knew her pack-a-day cigarette habit wasn't healthy. "I got to the point where I couldn't breathe," says Diana. "I just couldn't breathe anymore...down the driveway and down the stairs, up the stairs, I was out of breath." Nicotine patches, chewing gum and quitting cold turkey didn't work for her so Diana turned to a trial drug, Varenicline. Varenicline weans
smokers off tobacco by attaching to a specific receptor in the brain.
The drug activates and blocks nicotine's chemical reactions. "It
sort of evens you out," Dr. Cheryl Oncken, a researcher at the University
of Connecticut explains. "You don't necessarily get the sort of highs
of smoking, but you don't get the cravings and the withdrawal." In
a small clinical study Varenicline helped half of the smokers taking the
drug quit smoking after seven
weeks. The only side effect that has emerged so far during the study is
mild nausea. However, the drug is still in early trials and is unlikely
to go before the FDA before 2006. Source: http://www.wtvr.com |
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