Smoking-cessation drugs work past target
AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) -- Smokers taking cessation drugs who don't quit in the first weeks of treatment may quit weeks later if they continue medication, says a U.S. study.

"Our recent analysis shows smokers and clinicians should not be discouraged when total abstinence is not achieved in the first weeks of treatment with smoking cessation medications," said lead author David Gonzales, director of Oregon Health & Science University's Smoking Cessation Center.

"We found that quitting smoking was a dynamic process that was immediate for some, but delayed, taking several weeks, for others who took varenicline or bupropion."

Gonzales and colleagues analyzed pooled data from two pivotal multi-center Phase III clinical trials that tested the efficacy of the smoking-cessation drug varenicline versus bupropion or placebo.

The data suggest that quitting is a dynamic process, and if smokers are encouraged and supported during treatment with varenicline or bupropion, they can quit over a period of weeks -- not only quit on their target quit day -- suggesting that clinicians consider continuing to encourage their patients to stay on their medications beyond the first weeks of treatment even if they are unable to quit immediately.

The findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

Many U.S. women smoke during pregnancy
BETHESDA, Md. (UPI) -- Almost 22 percent of pregnant U.S. women smoke cigarettes and more than 10 percent are nicotine dependent, a study found.

The results, published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, also found that approximately 30 percent of pregnant women who use cigarettes have a mental disorder, with personality disorders, major depressive disorder and specific phobia among the most common psychological ailments.

Mental disorders were even more common among pregnant women with nicotine dependence, affecting more than 57 percent, according to the researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

"Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is the single most preventable cause of illness and mortality among mothers and infants, yet cigarette use continues among pregnant women in the United States," Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said in a statement.