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| |  Antidepressant Helps People Stop Smoking ROCHESTER, MN. -- October 22, 1997 -- A study of more than 600 smokers found that use of an antidepressant drug called bupropion was a significant aid in helping subjects stop smoking. The study also found the drug lessened the problem of weight gain among some study participants. The study, published in tomorrow’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, compared use of three different doses of the drug and a placebo as part of a seven-week smoking cessation treatment program which also included brief counseling. At the end of treatment, 44 percent of those who took the highest dose of the drug (300 mg) were not smoking, compared to 19 percent of the group who took a placebo. (Illustrating the difficulty of maintaining smoke-free status, at the end of one year, only 23 percent of the 300 mg group and 12 percent of the placebo group were still not smoking.) The study found the higher the dose of bupropion, the lower the weight gain among subjects. Among those who abstained from smoking completely during the seven-week program, weight gain averaged 6.4 pounds in those who took placebo, compared to 3.3 pounds among those who took the 300 mg dose. Bupropion (marketed under the brand name Zyban) is the first non-nicotine medicine available to help people stop smoking. It was approved for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration in May of 1996. Dr. Richard Hurt, director of the Mayo Nicotine Dependence Center and chief investigator of the study, said bupropion offers a valuable new option for people trying to stop smoking. He said the study showed the effectiveness of bupropion in helping people stop smoking was comparable to nicotine replacement products such as the patch. He added bupropion had a number of advantages. "For one, it isn't addicting. You can use it longer without as many side effects,” he said. “And it gives us an option for people who can't tolerate nicotine replacement products, for whatever reason." Dr. Hurt said researchers thought to look at an antidepressant medicine because other studies have shown smokers are more likely to have a history of major depression and that nicotine may act as an antidepressant in some smokers. While the precise way the drug works is not completely understood, it affects the same chemical messengers in the brain, called dopamines, as nicotine. "Release of dopamine is involved in the pleasure response, of drugs of addiction, such as nicotine and cocaine,” Dr. Hurt said. “Bupropion probably increases the amount of dopamine in the brain, although not nearly to the level of smoking. Smoking floods the brain with dopamine."
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