Health & Medicine
No Increased Risk of Suicide in Patients Using Anti Smoking Drugs
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Oct 12, 2013 09:51 AM EDT
Patients prescribed anti-smoking drugs do not suffer an increased risk of suicide, according to a study reports.
Smokers who want to quit smoking turn to anti-smoking drugs, but most of them use the anti smoking drugs as a last resort due to the high suicidal risk it carries. But researchers at the University of Bristol who assessed whether patients prescribed smoking cessation drug were at an increased risk of suicide found that it was not so.
The study compared patients using smoking cessation drugs with those on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and found no trace of increased risk.
Two popular anti-smoking drugs, Chantix (Varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion), curb the nicotine craving as well as withdrawal symptoms. In some countries, Zyban is used to treat depressive illnesses.
This large scale study aims to assess the risk of psychiatric events in those patients who are prescribed these two anti smoking drugs when compared to those using nicotine replacement products like patches and gums.
For this study, the researchers analyzed data from medical records that included 119,546 adults who used smoking cessation products from, 2006 to 2011. They assessed the rate of treated depression, self harm and suicide in 31,260 patients who were prescribed Chantix and 6,471 patients prescribed Zyban using data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) mortality data and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). They compared this with 81,545 people using nicotine replacement therapies.
Based on three analytical methods, the researchers found out that there is no evidence of increased risk of treated depression or suicidal behaviour in patients taking Zyban and Chnatix, when compared to those taking NRT.
Dr Kyla Thomas, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellow, concluded, "Given the concerns and accompanying safety warnings for these drugs these findings are reassuring for users and prescribers of smoking cessation medicines."
"These findings support those of our earlier study in a larger, more comprehensive assessment of this important issue; they will be of interest to patients, prescribers and drug regulators," said Professor David Gunnell in a press statement.
Quitting smoking mostly requires several attempts. In 2009, an estimated 49.9 million adults were former smokers. Of the 46.6 million current adult smokers, 46.7 percent stopped smoking at least 1 day in the preceding year because they were trying to quit smoking completely. NRT is helpful in quitting only if combined with support program. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that cigarettes take the lives of over 440,000 Americans every year, and high rate of tobacco consumption costs $96 billion in direct medical costs and a total of $97 billion in lost productivity.
Recent reports on the use of Chantix associated it with suicide risks. This forced the Food and Drug Administration to place a safety warning label on the drug to alert patients.. The same safety warning label was added for drug Zyban.
The study was published online in the British Medical Journal BMJ today.
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First Posted: Oct 12, 2013 09:51 AM EDT
Patients prescribed anti-smoking drugs do not suffer an increased risk of suicide, according to a study reports.
Smokers who want to quit smoking turn to anti-smoking drugs, but most of them use the anti smoking drugs as a last resort due to the high suicidal risk it carries. But researchers at the University of Bristol who assessed whether patients prescribed smoking cessation drug were at an increased risk of suicide found that it was not so.
The study compared patients using smoking cessation drugs with those on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and found no trace of increased risk.
Two popular anti-smoking drugs, Chantix (Varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion), curb the nicotine craving as well as withdrawal symptoms. In some countries, Zyban is used to treat depressive illnesses.
This large scale study aims to assess the risk of psychiatric events in those patients who are prescribed these two anti smoking drugs when compared to those using nicotine replacement products like patches and gums.
For this study, the researchers analyzed data from medical records that included 119,546 adults who used smoking cessation products from, 2006 to 2011. They assessed the rate of treated depression, self harm and suicide in 31,260 patients who were prescribed Chantix and 6,471 patients prescribed Zyban using data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) mortality data and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). They compared this with 81,545 people using nicotine replacement therapies.
Based on three analytical methods, the researchers found out that there is no evidence of increased risk of treated depression or suicidal behaviour in patients taking Zyban and Chnatix, when compared to those taking NRT.
Dr Kyla Thomas, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellow, concluded, "Given the concerns and accompanying safety warnings for these drugs these findings are reassuring for users and prescribers of smoking cessation medicines."
"These findings support those of our earlier study in a larger, more comprehensive assessment of this important issue; they will be of interest to patients, prescribers and drug regulators," said Professor David Gunnell in a press statement.
Quitting smoking mostly requires several attempts. In 2009, an estimated 49.9 million adults were former smokers. Of the 46.6 million current adult smokers, 46.7 percent stopped smoking at least 1 day in the preceding year because they were trying to quit smoking completely. NRT is helpful in quitting only if combined with support program. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that cigarettes take the lives of over 440,000 Americans every year, and high rate of tobacco consumption costs $96 billion in direct medical costs and a total of $97 billion in lost productivity.
Recent reports on the use of Chantix associated it with suicide risks. This forced the Food and Drug Administration to place a safety warning label on the drug to alert patients.. The same safety warning label was added for drug Zyban.
The study was published online in the British Medical Journal BMJ today.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone