Dr. Seigel Article - Chantix V. E-Cig

[Christopher]

Despite 98 Suicides and 188 Suicide Attempts, FDA Favors Chantix Over Electronic Cigarettes

Tobacco Control Expert Dr. Michael Siegel Calls for a Scientific, Not Ideological or Political Response to the Electronic Cigarette Issue

http://digg.com/health/Depite_Suicides_Attempts_FDA_Favors_Chantix_over_E_Cig_WHY

Don't forget to Digg the article!

[variven]

I'd have to say I prefer the e-cig. I tried Chantix, and all I got out of it were very lucid dreams...luckily no suicidal thoughts.

[StringDancer]

http://digg.com/heal..._over_E_Cig_WHY

Another excellent find, Chris.

We should be archiving in a link farm every such link we can find. Really, as some content expires after a specified time, we really should be archiving the actual text of these pieces when they when we find them. Never know when we may need a good quote.

Note to self... automate online archiving procedures.

[Christopher]

I suppose I could copy and paste each article to the computer, but I can't do it on the forum. Unfortunately it's a copyright issue.

[KansasVaper]

I suppose I could copy and paste each article to the computer, but I can't do it on the forum. Unfortunately it's a copyright issue.

I can't say for every link but this one was originally released through emailwire.com and is intended to be a public press release.

You can add the rss feed for the page but I wouldn't copy the whole article. Emailwire archives the press releases indefinitely.

[mergryphon]

I'd have to say I prefer the e-cig. I tried Chantix, and all I got out of it were very lucid dreams...luckily no suicidal thoughts.

Ugh, it made me unbelievably depressed. I can well believe the suicide issues.

[stubear62]

Thats just down right BULLSH*T! The FDA basically allowing us to kill ourselves for what?

I wonder what thier agenda is? To see how many people die a yr from this crap and when we have something GOOD so WE can live longer, they disaprove.

'Oh, hey, you know these e-cigs allow people to live and be healthy, so lets ban them and tell the people to go back , smoke analogs and DIE the hoprrible death you deserve"

Bull, I won't die because they tell me too. I will die when the good lord above say's it's time for me to go.

[NeRo9k]

I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say it, but Fu*k the FDA. It's going to get worse, meaning more doctors, people in medicine, and the general public are going to become involved in this issue. The more people the better.

[elem187]

If someone didn't believe this was all about money and big business over the general health of the public, they have to realize it now.

[BirdDog]

Remember when Zyban was all the rage as a stop smoking aide and the insurance companies wouldn't pay for it? Well my doctor prescribed Wellbutrin (anti-depressant) instead of Zyban because insurance would cover it. Basically he told me they were the same drug. Now they claim a lot of anti-depressants on the market have warnings about thoughts of suicide as adverse effects. I am not in a complete understanding of how Chantix works as a smoking cessation product, but it does have a form of anti-depressant in the mix. So it does not surprise me that there are reports of sucide or attempts when using this product.

Wellbutrin did work for me, I had quit smoking for about 2 years. Then as the story goes, one thing lead to another, and I was smoking again.

[Speakeasy]

As a previous user of Chantix I can concur with Variven. While on the drug I noticed extremely lucid dreams. Unfortunately, none of them were about sex. I used the drug for more than a month. I would like to add that I greatly reduced my need for nicotine for more than three weeks and the dreams only lasted for about two weeks in my case. However, I found that the drug didn't do anything for the ritual desire to smoke (ie. the whole hand and mouth fixation thing).

I was led to think that the suicide issue was mostly an increase in propensity for those who might other-wise be prone to such actions, like the clinically depressed person, but I am now of the opinion that it clearly has the ability to cause these tendencies on it's own. Obviously, this product should be removed from the market until further study can be done, and a heck of a lot more pharmaceutical money can be thrown at the FDA! I mean, come on! The FDA is wasting a great opportunity to make some pretty serious cash. It might even be enough to pay off all the ecigarette companys who want to sue the **** out of 'em.

Chantix is a drug that has been proven to block seratonin receptors in the brain. For those people that may not understand this concept, I'll break it down a little.

Seretonin is an organic compound (kinda like a hormone) found in animals and humans. It is found in several parts of the brain and in the gastrointestinal system. Seretonin in the brain is released by certain transmitters in the brains' billions of nerve endings. Transmitters basically cause seretonin to be released in certain parts of the brain and when it binds with seretonin receptors it causes a calming effect on us. Seretonin plays a role in what is known as our sympothetic and non-sympothetic nervous system.

Ok, so nicotine acts on our brain as a chemical that causes seretonin to be released. Seretonin is then picked up by receptors in our brain and we all go, "awwww, thats much better." Thats basically why a smoke break keeps us from attacking our boss. Conversely, when we don't get our nicotine, we tend to get rreeaallllyyy anxious and lash out at bad drivers, smart-*** kids, and the t.v. because we're not getting that little seretonin bump.

What Chantix hopes to do is block the the receptors for seretonin and kinda "trick" our brains into thinking that it has gotten the dose of seretonin we desire and consequently reduce our dependency on nicotine. Smart, huh? Anti-depressants work in almost EXACTLY the same way. Unfortunately, some brains are smarter than others and aren't "tricked" as easily by the the tricky pharmaceutical companies and because we aren't getting that "aawww, thats much better" feeling, we shoot our ourselves, or jump off buildings.

Don't take my word for it. Just type in the word seretonin in your web browser and you can learn all about anti-depressants and how they work.

Another little known pharmaceutical fact. A great deal of the drugs we take have side effects that can cause the exact opposite reaction than what they are intended to treat. Example: one of the side effects of anti-nausea medications is nausea.....