How does it help to stop smoking?
Clinical research undertaken by the French manufacturers Sanofi-Aventis has demonstrated that Acomplia is helpful when people are trying to stop smoking. Nicotine is an addictive drug. It is addictive because smoking it makes you feel good, i.e. it is one of the triggers to the pleasure centres of the brain. If you are already addicted, just reaching out for a cigarette gives you a sense of anticipation and impeding satisfaction. Acomplia acts on the brain to remove the emotional connection between the activity of consuming nicotine and the resultant feel-good experience. The result is that when you light a cigarette, it does not give you the expected pleasure and so you do not feel the need to smoke any more!
However, when the EU gave its approval to Acomplia, it restricted that approval to the treatment of conditions related to obesity. Thus, when you use Acomplia for other purposes such as an aid to giving up smoking, this is an “off-label” use. You are taking the decision to use the drug for an unauthorised purpose. But you are not taking an unreasonable risk by using Acomplia in this way.
In major research studies, Acomplia has been assessed for smoking cessation involving up to 7,000 volunteers at a time. At present, the Studies with Rimonabant and Tobacco Use (STRATUS) has recruited more than 6,000 subjects to test the degree to which Acomplia is effective in helping people to stop smoking, and to help prevent weight gain in those who have managed to stop. So far, the initial results made public show that Acomplia is effective for both uses.
Thus, there is significant evidence that Acomplia is effective for both the control of appetite for food and the craving for nicotine but, so far, the European regulators have not formally approved its use to help you stop smoking. This does not change the fact that both overeating and smoking are clearly bad for you and, once they become habitual, you really should get treatment to break these addictions. The evidence shows that the way in which Acomplia works makes the drug useful for both purposes, and more and more people buy Acomplia to help them fight the craving for nicotine and to stop putting on weight when you do stop smoking.
|
| Giving up smoking |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Weight loss |
|
|
|
|
