Drug Helps Smokers Quit, Avoid Weight Gain

LAS VEGAS — Obesity researchers heard more evidence Monday that an experimental drug helps smokers quit without the weight gain that often follows.

Another study out last week showed that rimonabant — designed to aid weight loss and smoking cessation — helped overweight people maintain an average loss of 19 pounds for two years.

The data presented to the North American Association for the Study of Obesity involved the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and 11 other research centers. Scientists gave 784 cigarette smokers who were motivated to quit either a placebo, 5 milligrams of rimonabant or 20 milligrams of the drug.

Participants took one pill a day for 10 weeks. When they returned for weekly visits, researchers questioned them about smoking and measured the carbon monoxide in their breath to determine if they were smoking. They also looked at the nicotine in participants’ blood.

Findings after 10 weeks:

* Almost 28% of those on the higher dose of rimonabant had quit smoking, compared with 16% taking the placebo.

* Smokers who quit while taking rimonabant gained about 1 pound; those on the placebo gained about 8.

This success rate for quitting smoking is comparable to other smoking-cessation medications currently available, says lead researcher Lowell Dale, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center.

But its unique benefit is its effect in limiting weight gain, he says. Health experts have expressed interest in seeing if the drug is effective in treating other addictions, such as alcohol and drug abuse.

Rimonabant’s maker, Sanofi-Aventis, plans to seek government approval for the drug next year.