Chantix

Drug class – Anti Smoking Pill
Brand Names: Chantix

Chantix (varenicline) is a prescription oral drug to help cigarette smokers quit smoking. Manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Chantix got the FDA's nod on May 11, 2006, and is known to be more effective than Zyban, another popular drug to help people stop smoking.

Chantix's clinical trials results are the proof of its efficacy and supremacy. During the trails, smokers were given Chantix, Zyban, and placebo and the result showed that Chantix had worked on 22 percent of smokers, Zyban on 16 percent and placebo had smoking cessation effect on 8 percent. These smokers were put on Chantix for a year.

Not only tha, Chantix's efficacy was even praised by Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), where in one article it was said that Chantix can be four times more effective in helping a smoker give up smoking.

In the U.S. more than 400,000 people die every year from smoking-related diseases. Smoking also increases the chances of getting various types of cancer and other ailments.

How to take Chantix?
Chantix should be taken as prescribed by the doctor. Avoid overdosing it thinking that it will have greater effect. Chantix should be taken with a glass of water after having meal. Generally, Chantix treatment lasts for 12 weeks but for longer effect your doctor may ask you to continue it further for 12 weeks. A patient should start Chantix medication one week prior to the day he/she has fixed to quit smoking.

How Chantix works?
Chantix affects that part of the brain, which helps people give up smoking by providing some satisfaction that nicotine gives, thus reducing their desire to go for smoking. The other way, Chantix works is, it blocks the receptors in the human brain that facilitate addiction to nicotine. And that stops the person from getting high from nicotine.

However, other drugs used for cessation of smoking try to deliver nicotine into the patient's body without the use of tobacco.

Chantix Side Effects
Use of Chantix could have the following side effects: