Quitting Smoking With Varenicline

Abstaining from all mind altering substances is of vital importance for those working a program of recovery. Even using a chemical other than one’s drug of choice can be risky. A large number of people in recovery smoke cigarettes, and it is like those who are smoking were also smoking before they found recovery. That being said, we know now that people working a program who smoke are at greater risk of relapse, compared to those who do not.

Those who find recovery in a treatment center are often advised to give smoking cessation a try. Tobacco is both addictive and can cause serious harm to one’s health, illness that is often times deadly. Recovery is not just about abstaining from drugs or alcohol, it is also about living a healthy and productive life. Cigarettes, naturally, are not conducive to such a goal.

It is well understood that quitting cigarettes for good is no easy task, and most smokers attempt to quit as many as thirty time before accomplishing the feat, according to research published in BMJ Open. With that in mind, anything that can be done to assist you quit should be taken advantage of, but many of those resources are often times ineffective, i.e. gums, patches and inhalers.

There are medicines available that have shown some promise, such as Chantix (varenicline) or Wellbutrin (bupropion). However, new research suggests that varenicline is more effective for women than any other form of smoking cessation treatment, ScienceDaily reports. There were no differences seen with men. The findings were published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

"Before our study, research had shown that among the choices for medications for smokers who wanted to quit, varenicline was the clear winner when it came to promoting quitting," said Assistant Medical Professor Philip Smith of The City College of New York's Sophie Davis Biomedical Education/CUNY School of Medicine. "Our study shows this is clearly the case for women. The story seems less clear among men, who showed less of a difference when taking any of the three medications."