Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice

Background: Cigarette smoking causes significant morbidity and mortality and is a major public health concern worldwide. Primary care doctors are in a unique position that enables them to promote smoking cessation, as smokers are more aware of their health at the time of their clinic visit. It is th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Robson, Noorzurani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scopus 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/2993/1/Varenicline-South_Africa_Family_Practice-vol_52_%285%29-2010.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/2993/
http://www.safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/viewFile/1421/2336
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.um.eprints.2993
record_format eprints
spelling my.um.eprints.29932012-05-04T02:20:49Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/2993/ Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice Robson, Noorzurani H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine Background: Cigarette smoking causes significant morbidity and mortality and is a major public health concern worldwide. Primary care doctors are in a unique position that enables them to promote smoking cessation, as smokers are more aware of their health at the time of their clinic visit. It is thus important to offer effective treatment to help smokers stop smoking. Methods: A search of PubMed was done up to 16 December 2009, using the keywords “varenicline” alone, “varenicline” and “family medicine”, and “varenicline” and “primary care”. The search produced 426 articles on varenicline. The articles that were chosen were case reports, meta-analyses, review articles and clinical trials published in English. Results: A new drug called varenicline has recently been introduced to assist smoking cessation. It is an α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist. Varenicline has a unique action that relieves the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that occur during smoking abstinence, while blocking the receptor and preventing any reward from additional smoking. It has been shown to be efficacious for smoking cessation in normal smokers; however, its safety in smokers with mental health problems needs to be elucidated. Conclusion: The currently available data support the effectiveness of varenicline to treat nicotine dependence, but caution is needed in smokers with mental health problems. Thus, primary care doctors have a new pharmacological option to offer smokers who wish to stop smoking. Scopus 2010 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/2993/1/Varenicline-South_Africa_Family_Practice-vol_52_%285%29-2010.pdf Robson, Noorzurani (2010) Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice. South African Family Practice, 52 (5). pp. 217-222. ISSN 1726-426X http://www.safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/viewFile/1421/2336
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
language English
topic H Social Sciences (General)
R Medicine
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
R Medicine
Robson, Noorzurani
Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
description Background: Cigarette smoking causes significant morbidity and mortality and is a major public health concern worldwide. Primary care doctors are in a unique position that enables them to promote smoking cessation, as smokers are more aware of their health at the time of their clinic visit. It is thus important to offer effective treatment to help smokers stop smoking. Methods: A search of PubMed was done up to 16 December 2009, using the keywords “varenicline” alone, “varenicline” and “family medicine”, and “varenicline” and “primary care”. The search produced 426 articles on varenicline. The articles that were chosen were case reports, meta-analyses, review articles and clinical trials published in English. Results: A new drug called varenicline has recently been introduced to assist smoking cessation. It is an α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist. Varenicline has a unique action that relieves the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that occur during smoking abstinence, while blocking the receptor and preventing any reward from additional smoking. It has been shown to be efficacious for smoking cessation in normal smokers; however, its safety in smokers with mental health problems needs to be elucidated. Conclusion: The currently available data support the effectiveness of varenicline to treat nicotine dependence, but caution is needed in smokers with mental health problems. Thus, primary care doctors have a new pharmacological option to offer smokers who wish to stop smoking.
format Article
author Robson, Noorzurani
author_facet Robson, Noorzurani
author_sort Robson, Noorzurani
title Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
title_short Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
title_full Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
title_fullStr Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
title_full_unstemmed Varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
title_sort varenicline – a new pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in primary care practice
publisher Scopus
publishDate 2010
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/2993/1/Varenicline-South_Africa_Family_Practice-vol_52_%285%29-2010.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/2993/
http://www.safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/viewFile/1421/2336
_version_ 1643687023869952000
score 13.222552