Pfizer's stop-smoking drug, Chantix, does not trigger heart attack or depression and should be recommended to more smokers as advised by scientists in their latest study as reported in Reuters. Previous reports have linked the drug to changes in behaviour, depression, self-destructive thoughts, seizure and hear attacks after several weeks of taking the drug.
The drug-manufacturing company worked with researchers from different universities to determine the side effects of the stop-smoking drug. Researchers tracked 150,000 smokers in England for 6 months and came to a conclusion that taking Chantix (varenicline) or Champix as popularly known in Europe does not put users at higher risk for depression or heart attack than those using other stop-smoking drugs or nicotine-replacement therapy. Varenicline is the most effective medication to help smokers quit but previous reports have suggested that users may be more likely to suffer a heart attack.
Aziz Sheikh, professor and co-director at the University of Edinburgh's Center for Medical Informatics, described the study as an extensive analysis of the potential risks of Chantix and considered the drug as very unlikely to produce any adverse effects on cardiac and mental health. "Regulators such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should review its safety warning in relation to varenicline as this may be unnecessarily limiting access to this effective smoking cessation aid," he said. Investors had high hopes for the drug since it launched in 2006. However reports of mental health problems in users forced the FDA to order a "black box" warning on its labels. Two years after, FDA added another warning of increased heart risks to those who already have existing heart disease.
On the other hand, Professor Daniel Kotz from the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldrof said, "Smokers typically lose three months of life expectancy for every year of continued smoking. Our research supports the use of varenicline as an effective and safe tool to help people quit." The drug is said to reduce the craving and the pleasurable effects of cigarettes. They are generally prescribed to heavy smokers who find it hard to quit. It is one of the biggest selling stop-smoking drug in the U.S. and Britain, generating $647 million in revenue last year.
The study was lead by researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dusseldrof. Researchers from Maastricht University, University College London and Harvard Medical School also contributed to the study and data was provided by QResearch. It is published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
If current trends continue, it is predicted to claim up to eight million lives in a year worldwide by 2030. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seven out of ten cigarette smokers wanted to completely quit their habit in 2010. There are various types of approach that can be used to help quit smoking. There are doctor's or group therapies and counselling, medications like bupropion SR and varenicline tartrate, and other nictone replacement products.