Here’s one of those interesting stories where a drug that is used to treat one disease seems to help another entirely unrelated condition.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the Univ of Pennsylvania have found that the inexpensive drug metformin, which is commonly used as a first line treatment for Type 2 diabetes, appears to block symptoms of nicotine withdrawal in lab mice.
They found that after the mice has been exposed to a two week regimen of nicotine they had no withdrawal symptoms at all when given metformin.
Treatments that are available at this time are nicotine placement like patches, an antidepressant and a medication that tries to reduce cravings for cigarettes, but the success rate is low, only about 15%, even though some studies say up to 70 % of smokers want to quit.
And the good news is that although it’s a diabetes drug, metformin had no negative effects on body weight, food consumption or blood sugar levels.
If clinical trials show it works for humans, this has real potential, as metformin is inexpensive and considered a safe drug with relatively few side effects.
This is Joan Trimble wishing you wellness.
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