Quit Smoking With More Kick Per Puff?
April 15th, 2009 | by admin |Researchers have found a new strategy to wean smokers from tobacco: extend the nicotine kick that people get from each cigarette in hopes they’ll smoke less.
In a preliminary study, Canadian researchers focused on an enzyme that metabolizes nicotine. By slowing the enzyme action, more nicotine remains in the bloodstream and the pleasure that a smoker gets from a cigarette lasts longer. The result could be that smokers light up less often. Another benefit, according to scientists at the University of Toronto, is that blocking the enzyme also reduces activation of carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke.
“Smoking is a regulated behavior,” says Dr. Edward M. Sellers, lead investigator of a study presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. “People will not let their nicotine levels go beyond a certain amount. If they go up momentarily, smokers will take fewer or smaller puffs. That can be the first step to quitting.” Now, most smoking cessation methods are aimed at reducing withdrawal symptoms.
Sellers used the psoriasis drug methoxsalen as the enzyme inhibitor in a study with 11 smokers. The drug increased the blood levels of nicotine while reducing how much carbon monoxide was exhaled. Little of the drug entered the bloodstream. However, Sellers warns that methoxsalen has not been approved for use as a smoking cessation aid.
