Cytisine is more effective than nicotine replacement for smoking cessation

• Published in: BMJ evidence-based medicine Vol. 20; no. 4; p. 130
• Main Author: Stapleton, John A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Alkaloids - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Male; Nicotine; Nicotine - antagonists & inhibitors; Smoking cessation; Smoking Cessation - methods; Tobacco Use Cessation Products; Tobacco Use Disorder - drug therapy
• ISSN: 1356-5524; 2515-446X; 1473-6810; 2515-4478
• DOI: 10.1136/ebmed-2015-110188

Context Smoking is a nicotine-based addiction affecting about a billion people worldwide. 1 Inhaling the tars and carbon monoxide from burned tobacco causes the premature death of about two-thirds of those who smoke throughout their lives and is the leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity. 2 Effective pharmacological therapies have helped reduce smoking prevalence in wealthier countries, but are prohibitively expensive in poorer countries where smoking is most prevalent. 3 4 Cytisine is a low-cost cessation treatment, which has been licensed in a few Eastern European countries since the 1960s. Methods This was an unblinded, open-label randomised controlled trial of standard-dose cystisine (25 days, N=655) compared to standard-dose NRT (56 days, N=655), conducted among smokers approaching the New Zealand telephone quit line.