Although anti-smoking pills are the most popular among those who give up a bad habit, there are many other forms of drugs in the country's pharmacological market today that help to quit smoking permanently. Which technique is most effective for the patient, the doctor decides on the basis of a full clinical and laboratory examination and individual characteristics of the person. It's important to understand that all drugs work in different ways. Tablets are the most numerous and effective group of anti-tobacco drugs.
The multi-vector harm of smoking
The danger of nicotine extends not only to heavy smokers but also to those around them. It's about passive smoking. Relatives and friends are forced to endure tobacco smoke because they are next to a smoker. This is the risk of oncology, infertility, obstructive pulmonary disease, pathological changes in the heart and blood vessels, kidneys.
Scientifically proven fact: children who like to lift have significant developmental delays, low intelligence, and limited horizons. This is a consequence of a lack of oxygen. The blood does not receive the required amount of oxygen, which leads to the development of hypoxia. Under such conditions, the neurons of the brain are, so to speak, under suppression and cannot fully fulfill their functions.
The heart, which pumps blood saturated with carbon dioxide, experiences excessive stress from the hypotonic vessels. Against the background of atherosclerosis as a result of metabolic disorders and changes in blood viscosity, this becomes the cause of heart attacks and strokes.
In addition, this situation applies equally to smokers and to those who have never put a cigarette in their mouth.
Tobacco smokers are at risk for vascular diseases of the lower extremities: intermittent claudication, varicose veins, obliterating endarteritis, diabetic foot, polyneuropathy.
But the nervous system still suffers the most. Toxic damage to nerve cells, receptors, fibers leads to uncontrollable headaches, mood swings, inappropriate irritability, memory loss, loss of concentration, concentration. Peripheral nerves provoke the development of neuritis, the most famous of which is sciatica. Once got up, it does not leave the patient for the rest of his life.
The lungs are the first to be exposed to the toxins in tobacco smoke. In addition, the attack on the structure of the bronchi and parenchyma of the organ occurs from two sides: through the blood and locally, with direct irritation of the mucous membrane. There is tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, COPD. This causes persistent respiratory failure, emphysema, asthma, cancer.
The digestive system also comes in direct contact with metabolites of nicotine and cigarette tar. They trigger erosive and ulcerative processes, hepatitis, gallstone disease and cirrhosis. The nightshade alkaloid takes the kidneys hostage. It is they who metabolize poison, while destructive processes occur in the organ itself, sclerosis of nephrons, chronic kidney failure develops.
Libido in men and women, fertility, erectile function suffers.
Appearance - repels others: gray, dry, flaky skin, brittle nails, sparse hair, yellow teeth, and disgusting breath. Calcium is washed out of the bones and provokes osteoporosis and pathological fractures.
Such a multi-faceted effect of nicotine a priori requires a multi-layered approach to restoring the body after smoking cessation, and requires multi-vector support when saying goodbye to tobacco. For this purpose, pharmacologists offer smoking tablets and other multidirectional forms of action.
How do nicotine parapills work?
It must be said that recently the traditional forms of drugs have changed and adapted to people's habits. Today we see a lot of para tablets in pharmacies.
Remarkable:
- lollipop- Representatives of substitution therapy. They contain a minimal dose of nicotine which when ingested relieves withdrawal symptoms caused by the stopping of tobacco flow in the blood and brain. That said, it helps not to feel unhappy the moment you quit cigarettes. An undeniable advantage is the inclusion of herbal extracts in the composition of the product and the fact that they can be prepared independently at home. Patients with diabetes should be treated with caution. Medical advice on adjusting the dose of sugar-lowering drugs is required.
- Chewable tablets- They have the same anti-nicotine effect regardless of the country of origin: they replace the lack of nicotine. They contain 2-4 mg of a drug and work similarly to lozenges. The main advantage and difference is that the alkaloid gradually gets into the blood and brain as the product is chewed. Usually within half an hour, no less.
- Spray- This is the same liquid anti-tobacco drug. It is a quick help when you want to drag on a cigarette. Reaches blood flow and neurons in just one minute.
- Patch- A representative of the transdermal direction in reducing the cravings for pyridine poison. Maximum comfort to quit smoking. It penetrates the body through the skin, begins to act immediately, practically does not bind to albumin. It is metabolized and excreted through the kidneys. Therefore, it should be used with caution in patients with organ failure.
Today pharmacologists offer anti-smoking injections. Essentially a cigarette vaccine. That's innovation. The principle of operation is to break the vicious circle. Once in the blood, the components of the solution trigger an immune response in the body. The antibodies produced by the immune system bind the pyridine alkaloid and form a very large antigen-antibody complex. It cannot cross the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from harmful substances.
The center of happiness is preserved. It turns out that the person smokes, but there is no pleasure. The chain of addiction breaks off and the patient quits the cigarette.
However, given all the innovations, drugs in tablet form remain the most sought-after.
Groups of drugs for smoking
Modern pharmacology divides all drugs of tobacco addiction into several main groups:
- The first involves substances that contain chemical compounds that affect the body, such as a pyridine alkaloid. They activate cholinergic receptors like nicotine and mimick its presence. As a result, a person experiences the same feelings as when they smoked a cigarette. However, tobacco poisons do not get into the bloodstream and neurons, and the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract is not burned. However, the patient still needs nightshade venom.
- The second directly affects the centers of the brain that are responsible for the desire to smoke. These are antidepressants.
- The third - the most interesting - blocks the mechanism of action of nicotine and kills the desire to put on a cigarette, since this process does not give any pleasure.
Anti-tobacco drugs
These are groups of all of the most widely used pill formulations for smoking today, with a mechanism of action and contraindications to use - a reliable helper for those who decide to quit a bad habit. It is necessary because tobacco lovers need to understand: Addiction rests on two pillars - physical and mental cravings for nicotine.
So, some of these drugs help to say goodbye to physiological addiction, others - to psychological.
The wrong choice can lead to complete failure. Experienced smokers are advised to pay attention to the first group of drugs, beginners - to the third.
Nicotine analogs
The composition of these funds includes alkaloids in contact with cholinergic receptors.
The mechanism of action is the replacement of tobacco poison, an attempt to take over its functions. These drugs activate the same biochemical processes and sensations, but without negative consequences.
There is one more nuance. The nerve endings are extremely sensitive. Any overdose causes many negative symptoms. If their ingestion is accompanied by cigarettes, tachycardia, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating and fainting occur.
This "impresses" the organism so much that the idea of the risk of repetition is clearly fixed in the subcortex.
All drugs of this group have common contraindications:
- Carrying and breastfeeding a baby.
- PUD and duodenal ulcer, erosive processes in the intestine, pancreatitis.
- Atherosclerotic vascular changes and associated ischemia of the myocardium, the brain, high blood pressure, encephalopathy, heart failure.
- Disorders of the blood coagulation system.
- Obstructive diseases of the bronchopulmonary system.
Nicotine containing products
Pills with minimal nicotine doses help patients to gradually and permanently quit smoking, to reduce the dose of tobacco consumption or to survive a forced temporary smoking cessation. This is the same substitution therapy, but not with simulants of nightshade venom, but on its own.
The therapeutic effect is based on the absorption of a pyridine alkaloid into the body without harmful impurities and in small quantities. The dosage is gradually reduced. To the point where quitting cigarettes is easy and natural.
Contraindications to the use of drugs in this group are slightly different:
- Intolerance to the components of the nightshade alkaloid in individual cases.
- Up to 18 years old.
- Pregnancy and breast feeding period.
- Schizophrenia.
- Failure of the kidneys, liver, heart muscle, gastric ulcer.
Solanaceous alkaloid blockers
The essence of their action is to prevent nicotine from entering cholinergic receptors. The very meaning of smoking is lost if there is no pleasure in it.
Herbal medicines belong to this group. They contain calamus and mint, which, with their pungent taste sensation, evoke an aversion to the bad habit that suppresses the desire to smoke.
Alkaloid-free products
They are parallel in their mechanism of action with the previous group, but do not block the contact of cholinergic receptors with nicotine, but interact directly with the centers of the brain responsible for pleasure and suppress them. Smoking becomes a burden.
It is not entirely clear what the reason for the different effects of drugs in this group on patients is. It is believed that the crux of the matter lies in the technical synthesis of varenicline by different manufacturers.
Side effects are quite common: headache, nausea, cramps in the upper abdomen, rise in blood pressure, insomnia at night and drowsiness, apathy during the day. Rhinorrhea, sore throat, shortness of breath which can lead to respiratory failure and pulmonary edema are common.
Antidepressants
In contrast to all other drugs, these pills increase the activity of the brain centers, stimulate the production of happiness hormones and thereby interrupt the action of nicotine.
Sedatives
Anxiety drugs help the smoker to get out of the stressful situation of stopping nicotine.
Medicinal products of this group are contraindicated in expectant and nursing mothers as well as in the case of individual intolerance.
homeopathy
Today it is generally accepted that homeopathic remedies work like a placebo. However, there are three new generations of effective drugs that can reliably and safely relieve smoking cessation.
The mechanism of action of these pills is to detoxify the body and remove the psychological attachment to tobacco.
There are several restrictions on its use: intolerance to the components of the means individually and the allergic mood of the body. Diabetics need to take them with caution as glucose is one of the ingredients. The scheme and dosage are determined by the doctor, without whose consultation the treatment is impossible.
Each person can independently judge the degree of harmfulness and usefulness of smoking tablets according to the main parameters, but does not give an unequivocal answer to the question of which remedy is the best. This is because there is currently no optimal anti-smoking drug that would meet all requirements. Advertising is the engine of progress. But the truth is more expensive.