Smoking cessation treatments such as Champix or Zyban do not increase the risk of neuropsychological side effects, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal The Lancet.
Researchers at the University of California in the United States conducted a study with more than 8,000 participants to investigate the neuropsychiatric side effects of medication. smoking cessation varenicline (Champix® or Chantix®) and bupropion (Zyban®), patches and placebo treatment.
The participants were divided into two groups, those who had a psychiatric history and were taking psychotropic treatment and those without any psychiatric history.
The researchers analyzed the safety and effectiveness of the 2 drugs of smoking cessation, varenicline and bupropion, nicotine patches and a placebo drug. Smoking cessation was monitored by measuring exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) levels at the end of treatment (between 9 and 12 weeks), and after the study (between 9 and 24 weeks).
A risk factor in troubled patients
The findings of the study showed that for smokers without psychiatric disorders, there was no significant increase in the incidence of neuropsychiatric events.
For others, the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders would increase by 6.5% with varenicline (Champix® or Chantix®), by 6.7% with bupropion (Zyban®), by 5.2% with patches and by 4 , 9% with placebos.
“It is highly unlikely that varenicline and bupropion increase the risk of neuropsychiatric side effects in smokers without psychiatric disorders,” the authors conclude. “We also show, for the first time, that the efficacy of drugs is similar for smokers with or without psychiatric disorders. The small increase in the incidence of adverse neuropsychiatric effects in people with psychiatric disorders must be weighed against the known significant health risks of smoking “.
This new study confirms the conclusions of researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who published in the medical journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine that Champix would not have any consequences on mental health and cardiovascular patients.
Read also:
Champix would not cause depression
Should we consider sugar as a drug to better treat obesity?
Smoking cessation: do it for your loved ones
