CORAL GABLES, Fla. – About 95 percent of America’s 34 million smokers who attempt to stop on their own fail.
Now a new study underway in South Florida and around the country is recruiting those who’ve smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day for a year, have made at least one attempt to stop smoking and are motivated to stop.
“This new medication is a plant-based medication. It’s been in Europe for over two years, it has a long name called cytisinicline, but we’ll call it cystine. And that’s the medication we’re testing and comparing to two different lengths of treatment versus placebo,” said Dr. Jeffrey Rosen with the Alliance for Multispecialty Research.
In Europe, the success rate of the medication has been about 30 percent, compared with three currently FDA-approved medications in the U.S., which have an efficacy rate of between 10-15 percent.
Along with taking the medication three times a day, every participant gets smoking cessation education and they have to be willing to stop smoking within five to seven days of beginning the trial.
Click here to learn more about the study or call 305-445-5637.
Also in today’s health news, the Food and Drug Administration is reporting that a medication to treat migraines may raise blood pressure.
An analysis of post marketing case reports found that within seven days of use, a mono-clonal antibody medication called Erenumab would cause a sharp increase in blood pressure, even in those without pre-existing hypertension.
Prescribing information now includes warnings about this risk and raises questions about possible similar effects with other drugs in the same class of medication which hit the market more recently.