NEW DRUG TO HELP SMOKERS IS NICOTINE-FREE

Anti-depressant curbs addiction

A new nicotine-free medication used to help smokers who want to quit
is the first of its kind to get Health Canada approval.

Zyban, available by prescription only, was launched in Canada
yesterday at a Toronto news conference.

The product, with the generic name bupropion hydrochloride, is also
prescribed as an anti-depressant but has been available in the United
States for about a year to help smokers kick their habit.

Trial studies show Zyban's results are better than any other product
on the market, said Dr. Michael Levy, senior vice-president of Glaxo
Wellcome, the product's distributor.

"Nicotine is a powerful addiction," he said. "Zyban is an exciting
advance."

Several other treatments replace one form of nicotine with another,
Levy said, but it is believed Zyban targets the nicotine addiction
site in the brain.

"Nicotine stimulates the release of dopamine," explained Dr. Lynn
Wilson, an advocate of the drug and an addiction specialist.

Dopamine and noradrenaline occur naturally in the brain and are
associated with nicotine addiction, Wilson said. Dopamine is related
to the pleasure a smoker feels when smoking; noradrenaline makes a
person feel more alert as a result of smoking. "Zyban restores the
level of dopamine and controls noradrenaline ... to get away from the
addiction symptoms," Wilson explained.

Both Wilson and Levy stressed Zyban's results are best when the smoker
is motivated to quit and when the drug is used along with
counselling.

"Zyban works best on patients truly motivated to quit right now," Levy
said.

A dose of 150 milligrams is taken twice daily for seven to 12 weeks, a
process costing $1.60 per day.

The product may cause some side effects, said Levy including insomnia,
dry mouth, rash and change in blood pressure. Zyban is not recommended
for those suffering from seizures.

In a one-year comparative study of 900 patients, Levy said Zyban was
the smoking cessation method with the best results; 23 per cent of
Zyban patients were still smoke-free compared with 12 per cent using a
nicotine patch and 8 per cent taking a placebo.

"We do think Zyban shows some promise," said a spokesperson from the
Addiction Research Foundation, adding the foundation receives no money
from Glaxo Wellcome.

"They brought the health community in and listened to all of our
concems in May. This is quite unusual for drug companies," she said.
"They have actually put in more effort than most drug companies."

Dr. Steve Burnstein, psychologist and head of nicotine dependence
services for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said few
people have anything negative to say about Zyban.

However, he said, "It is not a magic pill. The use of any drug is not
an optimal way of dealing with things. It (any medication) shouldn't
be a first choice in trying to quit smoking."

-- Dave Haans, Graduate Student, University of Toronto
WWW: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~haans/

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady