Study Finds Antismoking Drug Zyban Twice as Effective as Nicotine Patch

In the first head-to-head comparison, the antismoking drug Zyban proved twice as good as the nicotine patch in helping people kick the habit, and both together were even more effective. Used together, they helped more than a third of smokers stay off cigarettes for a year, University of Wisconsin researchers report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.

After a year, more than 35% of the people getting both treatments were still not smoking, compared with about 30% of those on Zyban (bupropion) alone. Only 16.4% of those on the patch were not smoking, compared with 15.6% of those whose used placebo patches and pills. About 46 million Americans smoke, and it will eventually kill half of them, at a rate of about 400,000 a year. Three-quarters of smokers want to quit, but only about 5% manage to do so without assistance.

*

Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II