FIGHTING ADDICTION: 35 million smokers try to quit smoking each year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Approximately three percent succeed without help. Research shows that nicotine, like other addictive drugs, affects the mesolimbic system-the part of the brain that produces "feel good" chemicals. Few people realize that pure nicotine is actually quite deadly. Nicotine is the active ingredient in some insecticides. For every cigarette a person smokes, he or she inhales about 1 milligrams to 3 milligrams of nicotine. Fortunately, the body quickly breaks down nicotine to keep it from building up to a fatal dose. After repeated exposure to nicotine, your body gets used to the drug. The brain creates more receptors, the parts of a nerve cell to which nicotine and neurotransmitters bind. This process is part of why smokers get addicted.

SMOKING DANGERS: Strangely enough, nicotine is not what makes smoking so harmful. The real villain is the cigarette itself, which pumps more than 4,000 chemicals into the body, about 200 of which are poisonous. The damage done to the heart and lungs is primarily due to tars, carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals), and carbon monoxide in smoke. Compared to a cigarette's other hazards, nicotine is fairly safe. The Food and Drug Administration approved nicotine replacement therapy, including nicotine gum and patches, to treat smokers. Both gum and patches deliver nicotine to the brain but at a much slower rate than cigarettes. In patches, small doses of nicotine are released through the skin over a given period of time. While both alternatives can satisfy nicotine craving, they are less likely to lead to addiction.

KICKING THE HABIT: Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have patented a nicotine solution and are testing to see if it can help people quit smoking. The nicotine solution can be added to coffee, tea, soda, beer, lemonade or other acidic beverages and consumed several times a day in place of smoking. In a small pilot study, the solution proved effective. Twenty-five smokers chose a date to quit and were given the solution to mix into their beverages with instructions to use it as needed for smoking urges during a 12-week period. Participants drank between 2.5 milligrams to 10 milligrams of the solution per beverage. Abstinence rates reported by participants were 28 percent at 4 weeks, 24 percent at 3 months, and 20 percent at 6 months. Side effects of the oral solution were minimal. Only one participant dropped out of the study, complaining of a burning sensation at the site of dental work.

WHAT'S NEXT?: After conducting the successful study of 25 smokers who used the solution, the researchers are currently seeking a pharmaceutical company to fund larger clinical trials

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Richard Puff
Duke University Medical Center
382 Hanes House
DUMC 3354
Durham, NC 27710
(919) 684-4148

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