One drug may help people both lay down drink and put out cigarette

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Chinese media) -- A popular smoking

cessation drug dramatically reduced the amount a heavy drinker will consume, a

new Yale School of Medicine study has found.

Heavy-drinking smokers in a laboratory setting were

much less likely to drink after taking the drug varenicline compared to those

taking a placebo, according to a study published online on Monday in the journal

Biological Psychiatry.

The group taking varenicline, sold as a stop-smoking

aid under the name Chantix, reported feeling fewer cravings for alcohol and less

intoxicated when they did drink. They were also much more likely to remain

abstinent after being offered drinks than those who received a placebo, the

study found.

Additionally, there were no adverse effects

associated with combining varenicline with alcohol in the doses studied. When

combined with low doses of alcohol, varenicline did not change blood pressure or

heart rate, nor did it seem to induce nausea or dizziness.

"We anticipate that the results of this preliminary

study will trigger clinical trials of varenicline as a primary treatment for

alcohol use disorders, and as a potential dual treatment for alcohol and tobacco

use disorders," said Sherry McKee, associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale

School of Medicine and lead author of the study.

Smokers are more likely to drink alcohol and to

consume greater quantities of alcohol, and they are four times more likely to

meet criteria for alcohol use disorders. Diseases related to tobacco use are the

leading causes of death in alcoholics.

"A medication such as varenicline, which may target

shared biological systems in alcohol and nicotine use, holds promise as a

treatment for individuals with both disorders," said McKee.

McKee said that 80 percent of participants receiving

varenicline did not take a drink at all, compared to 30 percent of the placebo

group. The findings suggest that varenicline has the potential to be at least as

effective in reducing drinking as naltrexone, another drug found to reduce

alcohol consumption in heavy drinkers.

Unlike naltrexone, varenicline is not metabolized by

the liver and may be safe to use by those with impaired liver function, a

frequent consequence of heavy alcohol use, McKee said.