Anti-smoking drug may curb drinking, too

A drug to help people quit smoking appears to reduce the desire for alcohol as well, according to a study published online Monday in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

The drug, varenicline, is approved as a smoking cessation aid and is sold under the brand name Chantix. Researchers at Yale decided to test the drug on a small group of people who were heavy smokers and heavy drinkers because there was some evidence that the drug may reduce drinking in a similar manner to how it works for smoking. Drinking and smoking are behaviors that often go hand-in-hand. Smokers are four times more likely than nonsmokers to meet the criteria for alcohol-use disorders. Diseases related to tobacco use are the leading cause of death in alcoholics.

The study was comprised of 20 adults who were daily smokers (smoking at least 10 cigarettes a day) and nonalcoholic heavy drinkers (consuming seven to 14 drinks per week and three or four drinks per episode at least once a week). The participants were given varenicline or a placebo for seven days. Then, in an experiment conducted in a laboratory, they were given one drink and then had the option of drinking more alcohol -- up to eight drinks -- in a two-hour period. The study found that varenicline reduced the desire to drink. Those people consumed one-half of one drink compared with the placebo group, which consumed an average of 2.6 drinks. Eighty percent of the participants receiving the drug did not take a drink at all compared with 30% of the placebo group. The drug reduced alcohol cravings and the feeling of being intoxicated.

Varenicline is thought to reduce the desire to smoke and drink by acting on receptors in the brain that stimulate the chemical dopamine. There were no adverse effects associated with taking varenicline and consuming alcohol.

The study was performed on heavy drinkers, and it's not known whether the drug would have any effect on people with alcohol dependence. But further studies should be conducted, said the lead author of the study, Sherry McKee, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. "A medication such as varenicline, which may target shared biological systems in alcohol and nicotine use, holds promise as a treatment for individuals with both disorders," McKee said in a news release.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Stephen Chernin / Getty Images

Comments

[Drew Danielson]

"The study found that varenicline reduced the desire to drink."

I beg to differ. The study, with a sample of just 20 people, found a correlation. This sort of study can only ever find a correlation, not a causation. One would need to explore the biochemical actions to have any sense of causation.

It's possible that the study didn't even find a correlation, because it didn't control for "state of mind" factors that contribute to decisions around alcohol consumption, such as emotional stress. Just because the subjects drank in a laboratory doesn't mean that they didn't bring their stresses with them into the lab.

Another "state of mind" issue that wasn't controlled for was "sense of self control". If the group receiving the drug was also experiencing a higher rate of success in smoking cessation, they very likely could have been feeling proud at their self-control over substance intake and would therefore be less likely to choose to drink as a result. Under this hypothesis, correlation between the drug and a decreased desire to drink would be indirect at best.

Of course my assessment is made only with the information presented in the article. It may be that the researchers did a more careful job than the one described. Science and medicine journalism quite often does a poor job interpreting the meaning of research results in its reportage by simplifying results or framing the research in culturally weighted language. That's too bad.

[JimBob]

"...the drug may reduce drinking in a similar manner to how it works for smoking."

And newspaper writing takes another swirl around the toilet bowl.

[Zaphoid]

I wonder if it works on compulsive overeating as well?

[ann hughes]

My personal experience with Chantix is the following. I am a 54 year old woman and I have been a heavy smoker and drinker since the age of 16 or so. I have ernestly tried countless times to stop both of these things and this includes 2 intensive Re-hab stints. The only times I was able to significantly lower my consumption of alcohol and cigarettes was during my 3 pregnancies but after each child was born , I went right back to my old ways. It wasn't until last year, when I had joined a stop-smoking clinic and had started to take Chantix did I find myself almost completely free from that terrible nagging addictive voice that has haunted me most of my life. I decided that the only way to stop smoking was to stop drinking also and low and behold I just stopped... I wasn't even going to support groups - I just stopped....
A year later and I have not yet seriously considered picking up another cigarette.. I hope I never do. Unfortunaltely my life was hit by a terrible tragedy this summer and I picked up the wine again and I'm struggling to find that same sense of purpose that helped me let it go so easily last year. I've decided to go for the Chantix again but this time soley for the treatment of my alcohol dependence.
I am really looking forward to it- if you've never experienced addiction you can't realise what an amazing feeling it is to wake up in the morning and feel no shame. If anyone is interested- I'll be sure to let you know how it goes...