In a recent study, researchers found that the opiate blocking drug naltrexone, used to treat alcoholics and heroin addicts, was effective in helping some women kick the smoking habit. In addition, the researchers reported that naltrexone prevented the weight gain that often follows when women quit smoking. Participants in the study were divided into two groups. One group was given a combination of drug therapy, behavioral counseling sessions, and nicotine patches. The other group was given a placebo, behavioral counseling sessions, and nicotine patches. For women receiving naltrexone, 58 percent were still not smoking eight weeks later. Six months later, some had taken up the smoking habit again, but some had remained free of the habit.
Naltrexone did not appear to provide a benefit for men trying to quit smoking.
"Women have historically had less success than men in giving up cigarettes," said study author Andrea King, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago. "In this small study, naltrexone seems to have closed that gap."
The study, Efficacy of Naltrexone in Women's Smoking Cessation, is currently ongoing and recruiting new patients.
