Soviet-Era Pill Could Help Kick the Butt

A pill that has been sold in Eastern Europe since the last four decades may prove to be an effective remedy for helping kick the butt after a new study showed that it could be safely used to get rid of the smoking habit. Known as Tabex, the pill was developed during the Soviet era and is made up of a drug known as cytisine. The drug is available at a very cheap cost at $5 to $17 a month and can prove to be an effective way of quitting smoking, especially among poor countries.

The drug is manufactured by Bulgarian pharmaceutical company, Sopharma AD, and is cheaper than the currently available remedies for those who want to quit the habit. Researchers from University College London conducted a study involving 740 smokers in Poland.

Half of the participants were given cytisine for 25 days while the other half received dummy pills. Following up on the participants at the end of one year, the researchers found that 8.4 percent of those who took cytisine managed to give up smoking compared to 2.4 percent of those on dummy pills.

“The benefits of Tabex are comparable with those of other smoking-cessation treatments, but at a fraction of the cost. Cytisine is so cheap that even in developing countries, if you can afford to smoke, you can afford to stop”, lead researcher Dr Robert West said.

Source-Medindia