Study finds no increased risk of suicide in patients using smoking cessation drugs

Findings alleviate safety concerns over drugs -- Zyban and Champix

2013-10-11

(Press-News.org) A study to assess whether patients prescribed smoking cessation drugs are at an increased risk of suicide, self-harm and treated depression compared with users of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has found no evidence of an increased risk. The findings, led by researchers from the University of Bristol, are published online in the British Medical Journal [BMJ] today [11 October].

Varenicline (brand name Champix in the UK, Chantix in the US) is widely used by patients seeking to stop smoking with recent figures showing there were one million prescriptions for the drug in England in 2011 alone1. Both varenicline and bupropion (brand name Zyban) - the other main non-nicotine smoking cessation product - work by helping to reduce nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Bupropion is also used to treat depressive illnesses in some countries, but is not licensed for this indication in the UK.

However, concerns that these drugs may increase the risk of suicide have led to safety warnings by regulatory agencies including the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Findings from this large-scale study aimed to assess the risk of psychiatric events in patients prescribed varenicline or bupropion compared with those using nicotine replacement products such as patches and gum.

Researchers analysed data from the medical records of 119,546 adults who had used a smoking cessation product between 1 September 2006 and 31 October 2011. Using linked data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) mortality data and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the team were then able to assess the rate of treated depression, self-harm and suicide in 31, 260 (26.2 per cent) patients prescribed varenicline, 6,741 (5.6 per cent) patients prescribed bupropion and compare this with 81, 545 (68.2 per cent) people using nicotine replacement therapies.

The findings, which used three different analytical methods, showed no clear evidence of an increased risk of treated depression or suicidal behavior for patients prescribed with varenicline or bupropion compared to those taking nicotine replacement therapies.

Dr Kyla Thomas, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellow and one of the study's lead authors in the University's School of Social and Community Medicine, said: "Given the concerns and accompanying safety warnings for these drugs these findings are reassuring for users and prescribers of smoking cessation medicines."

Professor David Gunnell concluded: "These findings support those of our earlier study2 in a larger, more comprehensive assessment of this important issue; they will be of interest to patients, prescribers and drug regulators."

###

Further information

Paper

The paper, entitled 'Smoking cessation treatment and the risk of depression, suicide and self-harm in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink: a Prospective Cohort Study' by Kyla Thomas, NIHR Doctoral Fellow (1), Richard Martin, Neil Davies (2), Chris Metcalfe (1), Frank Windmeijer (3), David Gunnell (1) is published in the British Medical Journal [BMJ].

1. School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol

2. MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU), University of Bristol

3. Department of Economics, Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO), University of Bristol

References

1. Prescription Cost Analysis England 2011. Health and Social Care Information Centre. Prescribing and Primary Care Services, 2012.

2. Varenicline and suicidal behaviour: a cohort study based on data from the General Practice Research Database. BMJ 2009; 339:b3805.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government's strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New antiviral response discovered in mammals

2013-10-11

Many viral infections are nipped in the bud by the innate immune response. This involves specific proteins within the infected cell that recognize the virus and trigger a signalling cascade – the so-called interferon response. This activates a protective mechanism in neighbouring cells and often results in the death of the primarily infected cell. In plants and invertebrates another mechanism is known to function in antiviral immune response: the so-called RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. RNAi uses an intermediate of the viral proliferation process to build a weapon against ...

Hunter-gatherers and immigrant farmers lived together for 2,000 years in Central Europe

2013-10-11

Indigenous hunter-gatherers and immigrant farmers lived side-by-side for more than 2,000 years in Central Europe, before the hunter-gatherer communities died out or adopted the agricultural lifestyle. The results come from a study undertaken by the Institute of Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) that has just been published in the eminent journal Science. A team led by Mainz anthropologist Professor Joachim Burger studied bones from the 'Blätterhöhle' cave near Hagen in Germany, where both hunter-gatherers and farmers were buried. "It is commonly ...

U of M researchers suggest complex relationship between phosphorus levels and nitrogen removal in lakes

2013-10-11

In the land of 10,000 lakes, one lake has been the starting place for research with implications for big lakes around the world. According to a study published online this week in Science, University of Minnesota researchers, building from studies of nitrogen levels in Lake Superior, uncovered a good news/bad news scenario for lake health that has long-term, global implications for pollution control efforts. While many water-quality cleanup efforts focusing on the reduction of phosphorus have been highly effective, that success can also result in a decrease in microbial ...

Sticks and stones: Brain releases natural painkillers during social rejection, U-M study finds

2013-10-11

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," goes the playground rhyme that's supposed to help children endure taunts from classmates. But a new study suggests that there's more going on inside our brains when someone snubs us – and that the brain may have its own way of easing social pain. The findings, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry by a University of Michigan Medical School team, show that the brain's natural painkiller system responds to social rejection – not just physical injury. What's more, people who ...

Scientists shed light on the brain mechanisms behind a debilitating sleep disorder

2013-10-11

Normally muscles contract in order to support the body, but in a rare condition known as cataplexy the body's muscles "fall asleep" and become involuntarily paralyzed. Cataplexy is incapacitating because it leaves the affected individual awake, but either fully or partially paralyzed. It is one of the bizarre symptoms of the sleep disorder called narcolepsy. "Cataplexy is characterized by muscle paralysis during cognitive awareness, but we didn't understand how this happened until now, said John Peever of the University of Toronto's Department of Cell & Systems Biology. ...

Ancient DNA reveals multiple stages of settlement in Europe

2013-10-11

WASHINGTON—Research conducted by the National Geographic Genographic Project, a multiyear global initiative that uses DNA to map the history of human migration, is helping unravel the timing and source of human settlement in Central Europe. New ancient-DNA research led by the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project, the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) and researchers from the University of Mainz in Germany and the State Heritage Museum in Halle (Germany) showed a pattern of genetic replacement taking place across several millennia in a region of central ...

Unregulated, agricultural ammonia threatens national parks' ecology

2013-10-11

Cambridge, Mass. – October 10, 2013 – Thirty-eight U.S. national parks are experiencing "accidental fertilization" at or above a critical threshold for ecological damage, according to a study published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics and led by Harvard University researchers. Unless significant controls on ammonia emissions are introduced at a national level, they say, little improvement is likely between now and 2050. The environmental scientists, experts in air quality, atmospheric chemistry, and ecology, have been studying the fate of nitrogen-based ...

Rice University mix of graphene nanoribbons, polymer has potential for cars, soda, beer

2013-10-11

A discovery at Rice University aims to make vehicles that run on compressed natural gas more practical. It might also prolong the shelf life of bottled beer and soda. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour has enhanced a polymer material to make it far more impermeable to pressurized gas and far lighter than the metal in tanks now used to contain the gas. The combination could be a boon for an auto industry under pressure to market consumer cars that use cheaper natural gas. It could also find a market in food and beverage packaging. Tour and his colleagues at Rice and ...

New device harnesses sun and sewage to produce hydrogen fuel

2013-10-11

A novel device that uses only sunlight and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas could provide a sustainable energy source while improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment. A research team led by Yat Li, associate professor of chemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz, developed the solar-microbial device and reported their results in a paper published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano. The hybrid device combines a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and a type of solar cell called a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). In the MFC component, bacteria ...

How research ecologists can benefit urban design projects

2013-10-11

Ecologists conducting field research usually study areas that they hope won't be disturbed for a while. But in an article published in the November issue of BioScience, "Mapping the Design Process for Urban Ecology Researchers," Alexander Felson of Yale University and his colleagues describe how ecologists can perform hypothesis-driven research from the start of design through the construction and monitoring phases of major urban projects. The results from such "designed experiments" can provide site-specific data that improve how the projects are conceptualized, built ...

Labor market immigrants moving to Germany are less likely to make their first choice of residence in regions where xenophobic attitudes, measured by right-wing party support and xenophobic violence, a

Lots of screentime in toddlers is linked with worse language skills, but educational content and screen use accompanied by adults might help, per study across 19 Latin American countries

Study finds no increased risk of suicide in patients using smoking cessation drugs

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: