The antidepressant drug Zyban is one of the newest – and reportedly one of the most effective – weapons in the anti-smoking arsenal.
What is Zyban?
‘Zyban’ is the drug’s trade name. The active ingredient is bupropion hydrochloride. Bupropion was originally designed as an antidepressant medication (marketed as Wellbutron), but which has been found to have an additional important function: it suppresses the urge to smoke in many people addicted to nicotine.
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How does Zyban work?
The way Zyban works is imperfectly understood, but it seems to affect the part of the brain associated with addiction, and increases levels of certain neurotransmitters (chemicals involved in transmitting messages between the nerve cells). Zyban is thought to increase the availability of two of these neurotransmitters, noradrenaline and dopamine, which moderate mood and control various other brain processes. The result is that Zyban simulates the effects of nicotine, and thus dampens the urge to smoke. Zyban also reduces the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
Zyban is considered to be as effective as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) methods like the patch in helping smokers quit. Some studies show that approximately a third of smokers who take Zyban to help them quit aren’t smoking one year after treatment, which is higher than the success rate for NRT, and considerably higher for smokers attempting to quit ‘cold turkey’.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Stop smoking and lose weight?
OBESITY TREATMENT
Under development by Sanofi-Synthelabo, rimonabant (Acomplia) shows promise as both a weight-loss and smoking-cessation drug. Research indicates that rimonabant significantly reduces abdominal obesity, raises high-density lipoprotein ("good" cholesterol) levels, lowers triglyceride levels, and improves other markers of metabolic syndrome.
In one study, obese patients taking rimonabant lost an average of 20 pounds (9 kg) in a year. In a second study, the drug helped smokers nearly double their chances of kicking the habit in 10 weeks-and, as a bonus, overweight subjects also dropped about a pound each. The most common adverse reactions were nausea, dizziness, and upper respiratory tract infections.
Rimonabant is the first of a new class of drugs that block certain receptors on brain and fat cells belonging to the endocannabinoid (EC) system. Nicotine and the active ingredient in marijuana both attach to EC system receptors. Blocking these receptors seems to reduce both appetite and the urge to smoke.
Under development by Sanofi-Synthelabo, rimonabant (Acomplia) shows promise as both a weight-loss and smoking-cessation drug. Research indicates that rimonabant significantly reduces abdominal obesity, raises high-density lipoprotein ("good" cholesterol) levels, lowers triglyceride levels, and improves other markers of metabolic syndrome.
In one study, obese patients taking rimonabant lost an average of 20 pounds (9 kg) in a year. In a second study, the drug helped smokers nearly double their chances of kicking the habit in 10 weeks-and, as a bonus, overweight subjects also dropped about a pound each. The most common adverse reactions were nausea, dizziness, and upper respiratory tract infections.
Rimonabant is the first of a new class of drugs that block certain receptors on brain and fat cells belonging to the endocannabinoid (EC) system. Nicotine and the active ingredient in marijuana both attach to EC system receptors. Blocking these receptors seems to reduce both appetite and the urge to smoke.
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