Zyban helps smokers with lung disease quit: study

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Zyban helps smokers with lung disease quit: study

NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters Health) - The anti-depressant bupropion (Zyban) is

an effective means to help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

(COPD) to quit smoking, according to a new report.

The study, which was funded by the drug's manufacturer GlaxoWellcome, is

published in the May 19th issue of The Lancet.

Dr. Don P. Tashkin of the University of California, Los Angeles, and

colleagues evaluated 405 patients diagnosed with COPD, which includes

emphysema and chronic bronchitis. All patients smoked 15 or more cigarettes

per day. Half of the participants in the study were given Zyban and the

other half were given an inactive placebo. All patients also received

counseling to help them quit smoking.

After 6 months of treatment, the researchers found that 16% of the Zyban

group were still tobacco free, while only 9% of those taking a placebo had

kicked the habit.

" Bupropion is clearly effective as smoking-cessation therapy, but its

benefits need to be offset against minor side effects [such as insomnia], as

well as some of the much more serious side effects similar to those seen

with other antidepressants [such as a 1 in a 1,000 risk of seizure], " write

Silagy and Neil Formica of the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne,

Australia, in an accompanying editorial.

The editorialists also stress that the " real questions that remain

unanswered " are how much counseling patients need to ensure that Zyban helps

them, and how the drug compares with other nicotine-replacement therapies

such as the nicotine patch or nicotine gum.

SOURCE: The Lancet 2001;357:1550, 1571-1575.