Scientists from the University of Chicago found a combination treatment that can treat smokers who drink alcohol heavily.
The research is published in JAMA Network Open and was conducted by Prof. Andrea King et al.
One in five people who smoke also drink heavily, but they show worse outcomes than non-heavy drinkers in quitting smoking and are often excluded from smoking cessation trials.
In the study, the team wanted to find a treatment that could help smokers to quit—particularly those who would describe themselves as heavy drinkers.
While many often dismiss heavy drinking and smoking behaviors as “bad habits,” there are biological mechanisms that tie the two tightly together.
Previous research has shown that the higher the alcohol consumption, the more intense the urge to smoke, and that alcohol acutely activates brain reward pathways when smokers were shown images of smoking.
In the study, the team tested whether smokers who also drink heavily could be helped through a combination treatment, using two drug therapies together instead of just one.
She wondered whether combining treatments that are known to work well would help with smoking cessation for this group.
During the 12-week study, the team gave 122 smokers who were also heavy drinkers either nicotine replacement therapy (in the form of the nicotine patch) in combination with the smoking cessation drug varenicline, or in combination with a placebo.
During weeks nine to 12, the participants were asked to report whether they were abstaining from smoking. Those individual reports were confirmed by a lab test administered during week 12.
The team found that the combination treatment of nicotine replacement and varenicline was indeed more effective for smoking cessation, with 44.3% of participants abstaining from smoking through the last weeks of the study.
In contrast, less than 27.9% of the participants who received nicotine replacement combined with placebo had still quit at the end of the study.
The combination treatment was also well tolerated by most participants and did not produce any severe side effects.
King and her colleagues were surprised to find that participants from both groups in the study also reduced their rates of drinking.
While participants were not directly told to reduce their drinking, they were asked about their drinking in surveys throughout the study.
The team says simply asking participants about their drinking and knowing how closely the two substances are tied together may have prompted them to reduce drinking in order to improve their chances of quitting smoking.
The results suggest that addressing both addictions at once might be synergistic and could provide better overall health outcomes than previously thought.
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If you care about smoking, please read studies that quitting smoking sooner could save your life, and scientists find the cause of weight gain after smoking cessation.
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