Varenicline Pill May Reduce Urges to Smoke and Drink

Jenny Albano

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Varenicline, a drug currently on the market to help smokers quit, may also help curb the urge to drink. According to some new studies, rats that were conditioned to drink in excess cut their drinking in half when they were given the drug.

Eighteen rates were periodically given access to alcohol for a period of four months. The researchers would introduce the alcohol and let the rats consume it all day, and then take it away. The withdrawal made the rats want the alcohol more and every time it was introduced they would increase their intake. But, even after months of the binge drinking behavior, the rats cut their drinking in half when they were given varenicline. Even when they were taken off the drug, the rats were not inclined to want to drink more.

Selena Bartlett of the Ernest Gallo Clinic & Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco believes that instead of the drug replacing the urges, varenicline is "turning down the reward system".

The researchers plan to conduct clinical trials on humans pending permission and funding by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md. It remains unclear how long a treatment would need to be in order to kick the habit but the drug does linger longer in the human system.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.