Jump to full article: The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday (uk), 2009-06-23
Author: Roger Dobson
Intro: A blood pressure pill might help people quit smoking.
Researchers believe that the beta blocker drug works on certain brain chemicals and effectively deletes some of the memories associated with the habit.
New wonder pill 'blocks or erases memory from smoking'
It is these memories which help drive the craving and lead to thousands of would-be quitters relapsing. . . .
The new treatment, known as memory reconsolidation blockade, targets this craving and could be used in conjunction with nicotine replacement therapy.
Smoking, along with many drug addictions, triggers an increased release of the brain chemical dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is involved in controlling movement, emotional response, the ability to experience pleasure and pain, and short-term memory. . . .
Previous studies on animals have shown that those given injections of a beta blocker were less likely to recall being afraid of certain things.
In the trial at Massachusetts General Hospital, smokers who have smoked at least ten cigarettes a day for the past three months are being given the beta blocker propranolol.
The study, which involves 50 smokers, includes a smoking cessation phase, where the men and women will be given nicotine patches, and a relapse prevention phase where they will be assigned to receive either propranolol or a placebo once a week for six weeks.
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