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【bio-news】戒瘾药物可帮助女性戒烟
October 9, 2006
BY JIM RITTER Health Reporter
A drug that helps alcoholics and heroin addicts kick their habits might also help female smokers quit, according to a University of Chicago study.
The drug -- naltrexone -- worked better for women than for men, perhaps because it reduced the chance they would gain weight after quitting, the study found. Earlier studies found potential weight gain presents a bigger obstacle to women who want to quit.
Only slight weight gain seen
In the first month after quitting, women who took naltrexone gained about one pound, while women who took an inactive placebo pill gained about four pounds.
Researchers studied 110 adults who smoked 15 to 40 cigarettes a day and had failed multiple attempts to quit. For two months, half took a daily naltrexone pill and half took a placebo. All received nicotine patches and behavioral therapy.
After two months, 58 percent of the women who took naltrexone had quit successfully, compared with only 39 percent who took the placebo. Among men, naltrexone showed no better results than the placebo. After six months, only about one-third of all participants had quit for good.
The study by Andrea King and colleagues is published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
Several smoking-cessation drugs already are available, including nicotine-replacement patches, gums, lozenges, nasal sprays and pills, and the antidepressant Zyban. Success rates range from 20 percent to 40 percent, King said.
But is it marketable?
Naltrexone might become an option for smokers who don't respond to existing smoking-cessation drugs or who don't like the side effects.
Naltrexone appears to inhibit chemical signals in the brain that convey a pleasurable feeling when taking drugs. In some smokers, naltrexone reduces craving, irritability, fatigue and difficulty concentrating.
"It's a safe, well-tolerated medication," King said.
It's unclear whether naltrexone will be marketed for smoking cessation. Any company can sell naltrexone as a generic. And with no patent protection, companies have little incentive to develop it further.
King is conducting a followup study that will track 324 smokers for one year. Call (773) 834-8654 or visit http://stopsmoking.uchicago.edu 领一个
纳曲酮――女烟民戒烟的新选择
吸烟有害健康是众所周知的事实，人们已经研发出多种药物用于戒烟，包括尼古丁替代品、口香糖、润喉片、鼻喷剂、药丸以及抗抑郁药物载班（Zyban）等等，成功率在都相对较低。最近芝加哥大学的一项研究表明，一种用来帮助酗酒者和海洛因瘾君子戒断他们恶习的药物――纳曲酮可以更好的帮助女烟民戒烟。
这种药物更适合女烟民的原因是使用它在戒烟之后很少会发胖，而体重增加恰恰是女烟民不愿戒烟的一大障碍。数据表明：在戒烟后的第一个月里，使用纳曲酮的女性体重仅仅增加一磅，而服用安慰剂的女性则大约增加了四磅。
研究者对110名的成年人进行了为期两个月的观察，在戒烟前他（她）们每天吸烟数量为15到40支，并且已经数度戒烟失败。其中一半受试者每天服用纳曲酮，另外一般则服用安慰剂，当实验结束时，女烟民中服用纳曲酮者有58％戒烟成功，而在安慰剂组则只有39％能戒掉。对于男烟民来讲，服用纳曲酮则缺乏明显的效果。
纳曲酮的作用在于它能够抑制使大脑产生欣快感的化学信号传导，对某些烟民来讲，服用纳曲酮可以降低成瘾性，减少狂躁感、疲劳感，并使其能集中注意力。研究数据表明纳曲酮不失为一种安全的，耐受性好的治疗药物。
尽管具备以上优点，纳曲酮作为戒烟药物的市场前景尚不明朗，原因是它缺乏专利保护，导致商家无利可图，也就缺乏对它进行进一步开发的动力。
这项研究是由Andrea King 指导开展的，研究结果已发表于《尼古丁与烟草研究》杂志。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-12-01 17:11
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