Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), the antidepressant bupropion, and the drug varenicline can help smokers quit, according to a new systematic review published in The Cochrane Library.
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), the antidepressant bupropion, and the drug varenicline can help smokers quit, according to a new systematic review published in The Cochrane Library.
Additionally, the review found that cytisine, licensed for smoking cessation in Russia, holds potential as an effective and affordable treatment.
Researchers from the University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K., conducted the review. They collected evidence from 267 studies that had taken place between 2008 and 2012 and involved 101,804 people. The studies examined licensed and unlicensed smoking cessation products, comparing them against each other and placebos. A smoking cessation attempt was considered successful if a person stopped smoking for 6 months or longer.
The review found that the odds of a smoker quitting were 80% higher with one of the NRTs or bupropion than with placebo, and two to three times higher with varenicline versus placebo. Varenicline was about 50% more effective than any single NRT formulation, such as patches, gum, sprays, lozenges, and inhalers. However, combining two of the NRTs was equally effective as varenicline.
“This review provides strong evidence that the three main treatments, nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, and varenicline, can all help people to stop smoking,” said lead researcher Kate Cahill, Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.
The review also found that cytisine improved a smoker’s chances of quitting four-fold.
Coalition promotes important acetaminophen dosing reminders
November 18th 2014It may come as a surprise that each year Americans catch approximately 1 billion colds, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 20% get the flu. This cold and flu season, 7 in 10 patients will reach for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to treat their coughs, stuffy noses, and sniffles. It’s an important time of the year to remind patients to double check their medicine labels so they don’t double up on medicines containing acetaminophen.
Support consumer access to specialty medications through value-based insurance design
June 30th 2014The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).
Management of antipsychotic medication polypharmacy
June 13th 2013Within our healthcare-driven society, the increase in the identification and diagnosis of mental illnesses has led to a proportional increase in the prescribing of psychotropic medications. The prevalence of mental illnesses and subsequent treatment approaches may employ monotherapy as first-line treatment, but in many cases the use of combination of therapy can occur, leading to polypharmacy.1 Polypharmacy can be defined in several ways but it generally recognized as the use of multiple medications by one patient and the most common definition is the concurrent use of five more medications. The presence of polyharmacy has the potential to contribute to non-compliance, drug-drug interactions, medication errors, adverse events, or poor quality of life.
Medical innovation improves outcomes
June 12th 2013I have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas, a disease that’s long been considered not just incurable, but almost impossible to treat-a recalcitrant disease that some practitioners feel has given oncology a bad name. I was told my life would be measured in weeks.