For immediate release
Mary Jane Gore
mjgore@virginia.edu
434-924-9241

Study Shows Alcohol-Dependence Drug May Also Reduce Smoking

Alcohol-dependent individuals, effectively treated with the drug Topiramate, are significantly more likely to quit smoking cigarettes than a placebo group, according to researchers at the University of Virginia Health System. The findings are published in the July 25 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine available at www.archinternmed.com.

“Our latest study shows the potential for topiramate to be a safe and promising medication for the promotion of smoking abstinence in alcohol-dependent individuals who smoke,” said Dr. Bankole Johnson, chief of the University of Virginia ’s Department of Psychiatric Medicine and lead author of the study.

Researchers followed 94 alcohol-dependent smokers for three months. They found that smoking cessation rates for topiramate recipients were almost three times greater than for those who received a placebo. Smoking cessation rates for topiramate recipients were 19.4 percent and 16.7 percent at weeks 9 and 12, respectively, compared with 6.9 percent at both time points for placebo recipients.

“Smoking is the primary cause of preventable death in the Western world, and studies assessing the relationship between alcohol dependence and smoking have suggested a strong connection between the two,” Johnson said.

The study is an extension of the group’s earlier research that demonstrated topiramate treats alcohol dependence. While the study shows that topiramate is significantly superior to placebo at improving outcomes, the research may be underestimating its impact because smoking cessation was not a goal of the study, and no specific measures, advice and/or counseling, or targets were provided to help the participants quit smoking. “The study’s improvements in smoking rate may represent a natural change in behavior,” said Johnson.

Researchers at the University of Virginia conducted the study at in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio.    

Dr. Bankole Johnson can be reached at 434-924-5457.      

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