More about Zyban

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’.