SAN DIEGO -- Much as it aided the general population of smokers, varenicline (Chantix) helped patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) quit too, a randomized trial showed.
From weeks nine to 12 of treatment, 42.3% of those taking varenicline remained abstinent, compared with 8.8% of those taking placebo (P<0.001), Donald Tashkin, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, reported at the American College of Chest Physicians meeting here.
Varenicline and bupropion are the two first-line pharmacologic aids for smoking cessation recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services' Public Health Service in guidelines updated in 2008.
There was one report of aggression in the varenicline group. Reports of anxiety, depression, depressed mood, and depressive symptoms were infrequent and similar in number between the two groups.
