The difficulties of giving up smoking should not be underestimated...

According to Leger Marketing which recently conducted a survey on smoking in Canada, 73 percent of smokers said that giving up the habit would be considered by themselves as one of the greatest achievements of their lives. The survey also noted that over 50 percent of all smokers said that they would like to quit and that 90 percent of people who are regular smokers claim to have attempted to give up the habit at least one time previously.  Also noted was that of reformed smokers only five percent of them managed to beat the habit without any external help.  

The difficulties of giving up smoking should not be underestimated and while it is known as a habit, smoking is in fact not just a habit but a serious addiction for many people that can be as difficult to control as an addiction to a serious drug like heroin or other Class A drugs. Research shows that around 50 percent of all people who tried to give up smoking do not make it even for one whole day.

For those people who have tried to give up in the past and have had serious difficultly in doing so, the new medication made by Pfizer [that also make the world famous erectile dysfunction drug Viagra], could be of great help to them. The new medicine is called Champix.

Champix is unlike most smoking cessation therapies in that it is not a nicotine replacement but works by targeting the receptors in the brain that deal with nicotine addiction and thus it reduces a smoker’s desire and craving for a cigarette. People who smoke when taking Champix noted that they did not enjoy the cigarettes as much and derived a much lower sense of nicotine satisfaction from the cigarette when using the drug.

The clinical name for Champix is varenicline tartrate.