Smoking: New anti-smoking pill linked to numerous side-effects

Every time I see a gaggle of smokers standing around the entrance to an office building I feel profoundly grateful that I'm not out there with them. 
 
I used to be one of them - a slave to the habit. And without question, quitting cigarette addiction was the healthiest thing I've ever done. It was also one of the hardest things I've ever done. And I know I wouldn't have succeeded without the daily support from family and friends. 
 
But my family and friends can't be there to help everyone stop smoking, so I guess that's why Pfizer developed Chantix - only the second smoking cessation drug with US Food and drug Administration
(FDA) approval that doesn't use nicotine. 
 
No nicotine - that's sounds good. But after reading the details (and reading between the lines), you might wonder why any clear thinking person would choose this regimen over a non-pharmaceutical method.
Pfizer has submitted Chantix for approval to European regulators, so I imagine it wont be long until it becomes the second anti-smoking pill to hit the market, joining Glaxo Smith Klines Zyban, which first became available 10 years ago. 
 

Smoking: Zyban is linked to serious side effects

 
Before we look at Chantix (holding it at arm's length so we don't get any on us), I'll tell you a little secret about Zyban, which is also a non- nicotine smoking cessation drug.
 
Its active ingredient is called Wellbutrin, an antidepressant that has a history of increased seizure risk when used in high doses, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. You have to wonder how many smokers out there are trying to quit by using Zyban, completely unaware that they're actually taking a powerful antidepressant. 
 
Ah, but there's more. The Zyban information flyer
warns: 'Patients who are started on therapy should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, or unusual changes in behaviour.' And according to the Wellbutrin website, the 'most common side effects' with Wellbutrin XL include skin rash, sweating, stomach pain, anxiety, dizziness, trouble sleeping, nausea, sore throat and fast heartbeat. 
 
Classic! The cure might be worse than the habit.  
 

Smoking: Adverse effects linked to Chantix

 
Nicotine binds to certain brain receptors, prompting a release of dopamine in the brain's pleasure centers. This creates the sensation that cigarette smokers chase relentlessly. Chantix binds to the same brain receptors, blocking the nicotine and the pleasant sensation. The drug also cuts cigarette cravings by slowing dopamine release. 
 
Studies show that this method works on a little over 20 percent of smokers who take Chantix for a year. Only 16 percent of Zyban users were successful over the same test period. And Chantix was even more effective in a 12-week test, although the subjects' long-range success in quitting for good was not monitored. 
 
And of course, there were side effects. Chantix will launch later this year, but Pfizer has already put up a Chantix website that lists these side effects as the most common: nausea, constipation, gas, vomiting and changes in dreaming. (I wonder if 'changes in dreaming' is a sly euphemism for'nightmares.') 
 
But that list just gets things started. There are quite a few side effects listed as 'frequent,' including diarrhoea, gingivitis, chest pain, back pain, dizziness, anxiety, depression, emotional disorder, polyuria (excessive urination), menstrual disorder and hypertension. 
 
And then there's this intriguing note: 'Fewer than 1 out of 1,000 patients reported euphoria in clinical trials with Chantix.' Euphoria? Hmm...sounds like a little dopamine might be slipping through to the pleasure centers for a few blissfully happy Chantix users.  
 

Smoking: A safe and effective natural alternative

 
About 15 years ago, Dr. Mary Cody, a doctor and researcher, found that a plant called Plantago Major creates a natural aversion to tobacco when inhaled or ingested. 
 
In a 1992 study, 24 heavy smokers were given Plantago Major tincture in a nasal spray and then instructed to smoke. More than 80 percent of the subjects reported an aversion to tobacco shortly after receiving the dose, and the effect lasted as long as 24 hours for some of the subjects. 
 
Dr. Cody's Plantago Major formula was patented shortly after that trial and is now available as a product called CIG-NO, which is sprayed under the tongue and creates an almost immediate reduction in cigarette cravings, with no reported side effects. 

Sources:

'FDA OKs Pfizer Anti-Smoking Pill' Associated Press, 5/11/06, ap.org 'Charles Tells Doctors of the World to Use Alternative Treatments' Severin Carrell, The Independent, 5/15/06, news.independent.co.uk