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• Stop Smoking: Secrets of Successful Quitters  

At any age, quitting can avert or blunt myriad health hazards and might avoid heartache for would-be parents—smoking can hamper conception in women and reduce sperm count in men. The earlier a smoker grinds out that last cigarette, the greater the gain. Male doctors who ditched the habit before age 35 had nearly the same life expectancy as did a matched group of physicians who never picked it up, according to a 2004 study in the British Medical Journal.

But most smokers know perfectly well they should quit, and 7 out of 10 say they want to. The challenge is how to break free of nicotine's suffocating grip for good. Just 2 to 4 percent of those who try are smoke free—with no slip-ups—a year later.

Pure willpower is the usual strategy, says Douglas Jorenby, director of clinical services at the University of Wisconsin's Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, and it rarely works. "Tobacco dependence is a chronic disease," he says, so over the long term, "the odds are very great that you'll relapse."

Addictive potential. Most experts agree that smoking is a drug habit with a tenacious clutch. . . .

Even a faceless online peer network can be effective. Logging onto the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking message board is what finally worked for Heidi Norie, a 46-year-old mother of three from Vista, Calif. Having smoked for 30 years—at times more than two packs a day—she has been an ex-smoker since March of 2008.

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• New ways to quit smoking cigarettes 

By now, even the tobacco companies agree: Smoking is bad for your health -- very bad, in fact. Cigarettes are the most hazardous, but cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco also contribute to tobacco's terrible toll. And secondhand smoke is an important cause of death and disability in people who never light up.

We are making progress. Over 45 million Americans have quit, and many communities prohibit smoking in public places. But more than 20 percent of adults still smoke, and the habit remains more prevalent in men than women. Tragically, thousands of teenagers take up smoking every day.

We can do better. Fortunately, there are more ways to kick the habit than ever before.

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Smoking Drug To Help Drinkers Too  

Researchers have discovered Champix cut the drinking of alcohol-dependent rats by half with a single dose.

And now clinical trials on humans have shown similar results.

Addiction experts at The Priory in Roehampton will now try the drug out on patients with alcohol dependency.

It will be the first time a drug of this type has been used to treat alcohol and nicotine addiction.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Mark Collins, the priory's head of addiction services, said the development was "very interesting".

But he warned against branding the product a "wonder drug".

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Smoking cure gets health warning  

AUSTRALIA's drug regulator has issued a new warning about the popular quit-smoking pill Champix, which it linked to depression, aggression and suicidal thoughts and behaviour in some users.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration did not ban the drug, but said there was an increasingly clear association between varenicline (the generic name) and serious neuropsychiatric events. It warned doctors to take care in prescribing Champix, and family and carers to be vigilant for any changes in behaviour.

In a bulletin to doctors yesterday, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said 210,000 prescriptions had been filled since January when the drug first came onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule. By October there were 339 reports of adverse reactions - 255 of which "describe psychiatric symptoms including depression, aggression, agitation, abnormal dreams, insomnia, hallucination and anger".

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Quit-smoking pill linked to suicidal thoughts: regulator  

AUSTRALIA’s drug regulator has issued a warning about the popular new quit-smoking pill Champix, which it linked to depression, aggression and suicidal thoughts and behaviour in some users.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration did not ban the drug, but said there was an increasingly clear association between varenicline — the generic name for the drug — and mental problems.

It warned doctors to take care in prescribing Champix, and family and carers to be vigilant for any changes in behaviour in the smoker. In a bulletin to doctors issued yesterday, the TGA said 210,000 prescriptions had been filled since January, when the drug first came onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule.

By October there were 339 reports of adverse reactions — 255 of which "describe psychiatric symptoms including depression, aggression, agitation, abnormal dreams, insomnia, hallucination and anger".

There were also 15 reports of seizures, though it was unclear whether the patients already had a history of seizures.

The reports reflect international concerns over varenicline

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• Smoking Drug To Help Drinkers Too  

A controversial drug used by millions of people to stop smoking could become the first in the world to treat heavy drinkers too, Sky News has learned.

Researchers hoping smoking drug can treat drinkers too

Researchers have discovered Champix cut the drinking of alcohol-dependent rats by half with a single dose.

And now clinical trials on humans have shown similar results.

Addiction experts at The Priory in Roehampton will now try the drug out on patients with alcohol dependency.

It will be the first time a drug of this type has been used to treat alcohol and nicotine addiction. . . .

A spokesman for Pfizer said: "Champix is only licensed for smoking cessation and we recommend at present that it should only be used in accordance with its license."

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• Scotland | Stop smoking drug concerns raised 

For its makers - Pfizer - Champix has been a huge success.

In its first full year on the market, the drug brought in a staggering $883m for the company.

But about a year ago, I became aware of stories emerging in the media in which people who had taken Champix were said to have suffered severe depression. . . .

I discovered that across Britain, more than 3,000 people have complained about adverse reactions to Champix.

About 260 have reported suicidal-related reactions to the drug. Of these, 16 had attempted suicide and 10 had killed themselves.

But 260 reported bad reactions, no matter how severe, sounds like a drop in the ocean compared to millions of Champix prescriptions. I wanted to know whether these extreme reactions were just isolated cases.

I went to the US where the drug - marketed there as Chantix - was developed and first launched.

I met James Elliott, a veteran of the war in Iraq, who had been given the drug by the US Government's department of Veterans Affairs, as part of his treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

One night, a few days into the Chantix course, he fought with his girlfriend, grabbed a handgun, walked into the Washington DC night, and forced the police into an armed stand-off. . . .

Ashes to Ashes: Is Champix safe? Will be broadcast on Wednesday 26 November at 8.30pm on BBC One Scotland.

You can also download it via the iPlayer.

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Smoking cessation and inattention or hyperactivity/impulsivity: A post hoc analysis 

The frequency of past major depression was highest with ADHD-inattention and the frequency of past alcohol dependence was highest with ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity with/without inattention. Compared to smokers with no ADHD, smokers of both ADHD subtypes combined showed lower abstinence rates throughout the study. Disaggregation by symptom subtype and separate comparisons against smokers with no ADHD showed that lower odds of quitting occurred mainly with ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity with/without inattention, not with ADHD-inattention. Combined bupropion and nicotine patch treatment appears to be helpful for smokers with inattention but not smokers with hyperactivity/inattention symptoms. The reasons for this divergent treatment response warrant further investigation.

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Telephone Counseling May Improve Effectiveness of Varenicline (Chantix™), According to Free & Clear® Study 

For smokers interested in quitting tobacco with the use of varenicline (marketed as Chantix), telephone counseling may make it easier. According to a recent National Cancer Institute-funded study (CA071358), smokers using varenicline who received any telephone counseling were less likely to stop taking their medication than were those with online support only (15 percent versus 21 percent) during the first month of treatment. In addition, this study confirms previous clinical trial findings that side effects from varenicline, especially nausea, are relatively common and usually mild to moderate.

The study is the first "real-world" examination of side effects from varenicline since the original studies paid for by the manufacturer. In this study, 17 percent of participants reported at four weeks after starting the medication that they had discontinued using varenicline, with half of those stopping due to side effects. Medication discontinuation was strongly associated with a return to smoking.

This study was the result of a collaboration between SRI International, a non-profit independent research organization (Gary Swan, Principal Investigator); Free & Clear, a national leader in healthy behavior change; and Group Health Cooperative, a non-profit integrated health care system in the Pacific Northwest. The study evaluated 1,018 smokers using varenicline--all of them patients at Group Health--and was published on November 12 in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

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Demand for anti-smoking drugs strong despite Chantix fears 

Claiming that 1.4 billion people worldwide are addicted to nicotine and more than five million cases result in death each year, the problems of side effects linked to Pfizer’s Champix/Chantix does not detract from the need for smoking cessations products.

That is the basis of a new report from Kalorama Information, which notes that the $3.1 billion smoking cessation market was composed of 36.8% prescription sales and 63.2% OTC drugs in 2007. This compared to 2005 when the former sector accounted for just 12.5% of total sales.

The increase in prescription sales is solely attributed to Chantix (varenicline) which “skyrocketed” that segment from $385 million in 2006 to $1.16 billion last year. However, sales of the Pfizer drug have fallen off of late, and fell 24% in the third quarter to $182 million.

US revenues of the product dropped 49% in the quarter to $96 million, amid reports of adverse events including attempted and completed suicide. Pfizer added a stronger warning on the label.

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States Should Fund Quit-Smoking Treatments: Experts  

Lives and money are being wasted because most states aren't doing enough to make it easy for smokers to access comprehensive anti-tobacco treatments, according to an American Lung Association report released Thursday.

Comprehensive coverage includes open access to seven smoking-cessation medications and three forms of counseling that are recommended to treat nicotine addiction by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The medications include over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies and two non-nicotine prescription drugs bupropion (Welbutrin, Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix). Counseling should include at least four individual, group or telephone therapy sessions lasting no less than 10 minutes each, according to the HHS.

Recent studies suggest that lifetime savings in tobacco-related health costs for every former smoker total more than $20,000, the American Lung Association said. In addition, employers and insurance plans could save up to $210 per year for every covered smoker who quits. Among pregnant women who quit smoking, there's a potential health care system cost savings of $881 for each premature birth that's prevented.

The American Lung Association is urging each state to provide all Medicaid recipients and state employees with comprehensive, easily accessible tobacco-cessation medications and counseling. States

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• Anti-smoking drug linked to 10 British suicides  

Health chiefs have revealed that ten people have committed suicide after taking a controversial anti-smoking drug linked to depression.

The disclosure by the Government's drugs watchdog is the first time officials have revealed the link between Champix and suicide in this country. Earlier this year, US authorities announced they were investigating 37 similar cases there.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website says a total of 24 people taking the nicotine-replacement have died, of whom ten took their own lives.

A further 213 claimed they had experienced suicidal thoughts and 407 said they were suffering depression.

There is no evidence that Champix has been a factor in any of the deaths. However, some experts are concerned that the drug, used by almost half a million people in Britain, may cause depressive thoughts and mood swings.

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Sanofi-Aventis Ends Research on Troubled Diet Drug  

The Paris-based company, in the world's No. 4 drugmaker, said Wednesday that it is stopping all ongoing human testing of the drug, Acomplia, which until recently was sold in Europe.

Sanofi-Aventis said in a brief statement the decision was made ''in light of recent demands by certain national health authorities.''

Just two weeks ago, Sanofi-Aventis said it was temporarily suspending sales of Acomplia in Europe, where it had been marketed in 18 European Union countries since 2006.

That move, on Oct. 23, came after the European Medicines Agency recommended that the European Commission temporarily suspend sales of Acomplia, known chemically as rimonabant, saying its risks outweighed its benefits. Those risks include depression, anxiety and stress disorders. . . .

At one point, Acomplia was being studied as a possible treatment to help cigarette smokers quit. It is believed to work by blocking the same pleasure centers in the body that are stimulated when marijuana smokers get very hungry.

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Cory Watson Crowder and DeGaris Supports New Calls for Increased Public Warnings about Potential Dangers of Pfizer Smoking Cessation Drug Chantix 

Law firm Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris is urging pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to strengthen its public warnings about potentially serious or fatal injuries that may be caused by its smoking cessation drug Chantix. On October 22, 2008 the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP: http://www.cwcd.com/pdf/ISMP-Quarter-Watch-2008q1-Chantix.pdf) released the results of an analysis performed by independent experts of adverse event reports. According to the ISMP report, Chantix accounted for more serious injuries being reported to the FDA than any other prescription drug for a second consecutive quarter. Specifically, the report says Chantix accounted for more serious injuries than all of the top ten prescription drugs combined during the first quarter of 2008, including 50 additional deaths reported.

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Nicotine vaccine among new tools to help smokers quit  

new cutting-edge products may help more smokers finally kick the habit. Perhaps the most revolutionary approach? A nicotine vaccine.

The vaccine is given to smokers in a series of four or five shots over several months.

Normally when someone smokes nicotine molecules enter the bloodstream and travel up into the brain to produce pleasure. The vaccine prompts the body to make these "antibodies" that latch on to nicotine molecules making them so big they can no longer enter the brain.

"They are essentially starving the brain of nicotine. So when somebody smokes, they don't get any satisfaction. And after a while they stop," Massachusetts General Hospital Dr. Nancy Rigotti said.

If the vaccines prove safe and effective in larger studies, one could be available within a few years.

Other quit smoking tools take the exact opposite approach, giving smokers nicotine, safely, in new, easier-to-use ways.

Now, from Sweden, where nicotine replacement products were invented 40 years ago comes the first, nicotine mouth spray, which gets nicotine into the brain in just seconds.

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