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PETER RUNICH IS TAKING A BREAK -- SOMETHING TO DRINK, SOMETHING TO READ. BUT A CRAVING INSIDE SAYS SOMETHING'S MISSING.

Peter Runich
Former smoker
"It's like an emptiness in your stomach. It feels like your stomach muscles tighten up. You get a sense of anxiety. Your hands start to shake."

INSTEAD OF HIS USUAL CIGARETTE, PETER PUTS A FEW DROPS IN HIS DRINK. IN JUST A FEW MINUTES THE CRAVING GOES AWAY.

Peter Runich
"The nicotine drops have helped me get control of my life."

PETER WAS SMOKING A PACK AND A HALF OF CIGARETTES A DAY. THEN HE ENROLLED IN A DUKE UNIVERSITY STUDY OF AN ORAL NICOTINE SOLUTION.

Eric Westman, M.D.
Internist
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC
"The idea of a treatment like this, of a nicotine solution, is to get people off the cigarettes, on the nicotine, and then off the nicotine altogether. So, it's a short term treatment that in the long run is better than smoking."

THE SOLUTION CAN BE ADDED TO SOFT DRINKS, COFFEE, EVEN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.

Eric Westman, M.D.
"So, it's a new form of nicotine replacement that has a little more variety and flexibility than the previous forms that are available."

DOCTOR WESTMAN SAYS TWENTY PERCENT OF PARTICIPANTS USING THE NICOTINE SOLUTION REMAINED SMOKE-FREE AFTER SIX MONTHS, A SUCCESS RATE COMPARABLE TO OTHER NICOTINE REPLACEMENT THERAPIES.

PETER SAYS THE NICOTINE DROPS HELPED HIM DROP A THIRTY-YEAR HABIT.

Peter Runich
"I can breathe again, and I don't wake up in the morning with that smoker's cough."

RESEARCHERS AT DUKE UNIVERSITY PLAN TO PARTNER WITH A PHAMACEUTICAL COMPANY TO HELP FUND LARGER CLINICAL TRIALS OF THE ORAL NICOTINE SOLUTION BEFORE IT'S MADE AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

SMOKING DANGERS: Strangely enough, nicotine is not what makes smoking so harmful. The real villain is the cigarette itself, which pumps more than 4,000 chemicals into the body, about 200 of which are poisonous. The damage done to the heart and lungs is primarily due to tars, carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals), and carbon monoxide in smoke. Compared to a cigarette's other hazards, nicotine is fairly safe. The Food and Drug Administration approved nicotine replacement therapy, including nicotine gum and patches, to treat smokers. Both gum and patches deliver nicotine to the brain but at a much slower rate than cigarettes. In patches, small doses of nicotine are released through the skin over a given period of time. While both alternatives can satisfy nicotine craving, they are less likely to lead to addiction.

KICKING THE HABIT: Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have patented a nicotine solution and are testing to see if it can help people quit smoking. The nicotine solution can be added to coffee, tea, soda, beer, lemonade or other acidic beverages and consumed several times a day in place of smoking. In a small pilot study, the solution proved effective. Twenty-five smokers chose a date to quit and were given the solution to mix into their beverages with instructions to use it as needed for smoking urges during a 12-week period. Participants drank between 2.5 milligrams to 10 milligrams of the solution per beverage. Abstinence rates reported by participants were 28 percent at 4 weeks, 24 percent at 3 months, and 20 percent at 6 months. Side effects of the oral solution were minimal. Only one participant dropped out of the study, complaining of a burning sensation at the site of dental work.

WHAT'S NEXT?: After conducting the successful study of 25 smokers who used the solution, the researchers are currently seeking a pharmaceutical company to fund larger clinical trials.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information, please contact:
Duke University Medical Center 382 Hanes House
DUMC 3354
Durham, NC 27710
(919) 684-4148



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