The National Health System has decided to include among its benefits a new drug to stop smoking, whose active principle is a compound called varenicline. The treatment consists of an oral administration of the drug for twelve weeks , with the essential collaboration of the willpower of the smoker.
But how does it work concretely? Through a double action. Varenicline competes with nicotine for the 4ß2 receptors in the brain, on which it first has a partial agonist activity –that is, it cancels them–. Through this effect, the compound alleviates the symptoms of nicotinic withdrawal and the urge to smoke, while through its other activity – as an antagonist – it blocks the reinforcing effects of continued nicotine consumption.
The first thing a patient who wants to quit should do is make an appointment with their primary care physician. Once there, and after verifying that the desire to stop is serious, the health professional will prescribe the new drug. Along with the recipe and consumption guidelines, it will also provide you with a follow-up calendar to check that you are reaching the partial objectives. During the aforementioned twelve weeks, the medicine will help both to reduce the desire to smoke and, above all, to mitigate the withdrawal syndrome.
However, as with any drug withdrawal, the role of the patient and the doctor will be the key to success. Varenicline alone does not work miracles, so the intervention of a health professional becomes essential. As tobacco addiction has a strong behavioral component, the chemical action has to be reinforced by the psychological one. Treatment is available to all people over the age of eighteen, with the exception of pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding, who should consult with their healthcare professional.
Comprehensive improvement
The benefits of successfully completing treatment are as positive as they are known, but they should be remembered. In the short term, the ex-smoker experiences a recovery of smell and taste, as well as an improvement in physical capacity and normalization of blood pressure and pulse.
Longer-term benefits include, but are not limited to, an increase in lung function by 30% at three weeks and a 50% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular accidents after one year. In addition, a decade after quitting tobacco, the risk of developing oropharyngeal, esophageal, laryngeal or bladder cancer will be the same as that of those who have never smoked.
By Javier Ruiz-Tagle
