Smoking cessation: the role of bupropion among new pharmacologic agents.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and the major cause of respiratory diseases. According to the World Health Organization, it is also a disease in itself, which can be treated with a behavioural approach. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been established during the last decades as a safe and effective pharmacologic treatment for this disease. Now, new pharmacologic treatments are being tested. This paper reviews the most promising ones among these new drugs: nicotine agonists and antagonists, anxiolitics, antidepressants. Among them, bupropion seems the most promising and is analysed on the basis of the existing scientific literature. According to the literature, bupropion is an effective and safe way to obtain smoking cessation, independently of its antidepressant action. However, it can have a few important adverse effects and has some contraindications. Caution should therefore be used in prescribing it to some types of patient, but the drug is active even at half the recommended dosing. In the future other drugs, active on the central nervous system, will be studied for smoking cessation, and the option of using bupropion and NRT together should be further explored.
Nardini
S
S
Pulmonary and TB Unit, General Hospital, Vittorio Veneto, TV, Italy. snardini@qubisoft.it
D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016642:Bupropion / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*
D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D016642:Bupropion