If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  Nicotine-Free Zyban Approved To Help Canadians Quit Smoking MONTREAL, QC -- Aug. 13, 1998 -- Glaxo Wellcome Inc.’s Zyban® (bupropion hydrochloride) sustained-release tablets, the first nicotine-free prescription medication to help people quit smoking, has been approved by the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada. Zyban is a tablet and is nicotine-free which makes it completely different from existing smoking cessation medicines. There is considerable evidence that smoking is a biochemical addiction to nicotine, not just a bad habit. It is believed that Zyban minimises the cravings and withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking by altering two naturally occurring neurotransmitters -- dopamine and noradrenaline. These two neurotransmitters are believed to play a key role in nicotine addiction. "Zyban represents an important medical advance and should give Canadian smokers new hope for overcoming their addiction to tobacco," said Dr. Gaston Ostiguy, pneumologist, Maisonneuve-Rosement Hospital, Montreal, QC. "What is exciting about Zyban is that this is the first nicotine-free prescription medication that addresses the biochemical basis of nicotine addiction. "This is a fundamentally different approach for helping smokers to quit and has been shown in a major clinical study to be significantly more effective than using a nicotine patch." Dr. Pipe adds that success is highly dependent on the smoker's level of commitment to quit and ability to manage triggers associated with smoking. For this reason, Zyban patients will have access to a personalised support program called Zyban(R)Plus. The program is available at no cost to Zyban patients and includes access to a 1-800 telephone number staffed by registered nurses who provide additional cessation support and information on local community support groups. Zyban has been shown to be significantly more effective in helping smokers quit than a nicotine patch or placebo. Clinical trial data demonstrates that nearly half (49 per cent) of those patients using Zyban were smoke-free from Week four through seven, compared with 36 per cent of those treated with the patch and 23 per cent of those treated with placebo. One year follow-up with patients showed that Zyban was nearly twice as effective as the nicotine patch. Smokers who are motivated to stop smoking set a quit date and begin taking Zyban, while continuing to smoke, one to two weeks prior to their quit date. They typically take Zyban for seven to 12 weeks, with support available from the personalised support program. Zyban costs about half the price of a package of cigarettes. The cost is approximately $1.60 per day of treatment, less than half the daily cost of treatment using a nicotine patch. Zyban does not appear to have any marked gender differences in terms of its effectiveness. Zyban was evaluated versus Ciba-Geigy Corp.’s nicotine patch Habitrol(R) (nicotine transdermal system).
|
