News source: Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited
Non-Nicotine Smoking Cessation Zyban (Bupropion Hydrochloride SR) Launched In UKLONDON, UK -- June 27, 2000 --
Zyban (bupropion hydrochloride SR), the first non-nicotine pharmacological therapy licensed for smoking cessation, was launched in the UK today. Doctors can now prescribe this treatment to help people who are motivated to quit smoking. Zyban, available in tablet form, offers an entirely new approach to smoking cessation.
Most people do not continue to smoke out of choice, but because they are addicted to nicotine. This explains why only 3 percent of smokers are able to quit each year by relying on willpower alone, and why current treatments for smoking cessation have limited success.
It is thought that Zyban reduces the cravings and withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking by altering two neurotransmitters - dopamine and noradrenaline. These two neurotransmitters are believed to play a key role in nicotine addiction.
A large comparative study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that almost one in three people (30.3 percent) treated with Zyban were not smoking at one year, compared to 16.4 percent of people using a nicotine patch. Zyban was thereby found to be almost twice as effective as a nicotine patch in helping people to quit smoking and remain abstinent at the one-year follow-up."Zyban is an exciting new treatment which will offer patients a real chance of successfully quitting smoking,"said Dr Chris Steele, Manchester GP and smoking cessation expert.
"Most smokers do not continue to smoke cigarettes out of habit, but because they are addicted to nicotine. Zyban is the first non-nicotine prescription medication that tackles the biochemical basis of nicotine addiction."
"Zyban represents a unique advance in smoking cessation therapy, and the success rates of patients using Zyban are very encouraging,"comments Dr Gay Sutherland, Clinical Psychologist at the Tobacco Research Section, Institute of Psychiatry, London. "It is another much needed weapon in our fight to help people stop smoking and reduce the incidence of smoking-related disease."
To achieve success with Zyban, it is important that smokers are motivated to quit. A personalised patient support programme, called the "Right Time ProgrammeTM" is therefore available for patients who have been prescribed Zyban. It is designed to encourage and support patients, through the use of a stop smoking action plan, health benefits chart, access to a dedicated telephone help line, and motivational letters timed to arrive at key stages in the quitting process.
The GP is in a strong position to help patients stop smoking. Evidence shows that giving pharmacological treatment in combination with advice and support is the most effective way of helping smokers to quit smoking, and that just three minutes of a GP's time can make a difference in helping smokers to quit.
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Zyban® website for for Healthcare Professionals only. Zyban is the same drug as is in Wellbutrin (bupropion hydrochloride).