Smoking Cessation
Millions, perhaps billions of people across the world are addicted to smoking today. This habit is the cause of some of the most fatal diseases including various cancers and heart attacks. Increasing awareness about the dangers of smoking is however turning millions of smokers towards quitting. Healthcare authorities are also putting in their best effects to help smokers kick off the habit.
Smoking can lead to a number of cancers including those of the lung and esophagus, heart trouble, tuberculosis and a plethora of other ailments. Currently one in 10 adults globally dies of smoking-related diseases but if the current trend continues, this number will rise to one in six adults by 2006.
Various programs have already been implemented and new ones are being introduced almost daily to make increasing number of people aware of the dangers of smoking and to get them to give up. These programs include counseling, exercises and diets as well as medications that treat the habit. One of the best prescription medications for treatment of smoking addiction is Chantix.
Chantix a prescription drug for smoking cessation
A new prescription only medication from Pfizer, Chantix received approval from the FDA as a treatment for smoking cessation in May of this year. It is the first smoking cessation medication to receive FDA approval in nearly a decade.
Chantix is formulated to help adults quit smoking. It contains an active ingredient varenicline which is a α4β2 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. Varenicline acts by stopping the receptor from binding with nicotine.
Chantix is different from other smoking cessation medications because of its unique formulation. Chantix drug has been designed to partially activate the nicotinic receptor and thereby reduce the severity of the craving to smoke. This in turn eases the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Unlike many other medications, Chantix also brings a strong reduction in the sense of satisfaction achieved from smoking. This particular action proves really effective in getting active smokers to quit with chantix.
Nicotine addiction has been widely recognized as a chronic medical condition. It makes quitting smoking extremely difficult and most smokers who quit tend to return to the habit within a short time. However Chantix is a breakthrough treatment that has been developed specially to block nicotine's effect in the brain and thereby not just help smokers get rid of the habit but also stay away from it.
In clinical trials, Chantix was found to nearly double the chances of quitting in comparison to the other highly popular smoking cessation medication Zyban. In comparison to a placebo these chances went up nearly four times. It was also found Chantix was well tolerated with very low discontinuation rates. The most common side effects included nausea, changes in dreaming, constipation, gas and vomiting.
All of these unique benefits make Chantix the best anti-smoking medication till date.
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