New vaccine could provide lifetime immunity to nicotine addiction. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed a vaccine that could help existing smokers quit for good and prevent those yet to try cigarettes from ever becoming addicted.
The vaccine turns the recipient’s kidney into a factory continuously churning out antibodies that clear the bloodstream of nicotine before it has a chance to reach the brain and deliver it’s addictive rush. Unlike previously tested nicotine vaccines that only last a few weeks, the effects of a single dose of this new vaccine should last a lifetime. Generally, there are two types of vaccines. The first are active ones that activate a lifetime immune response by presenting a bit of the foreign substance, such as a piece of virus, to the immune system. Nicotine isn't suitable for active vaccines as the molecule is too small to be recognized by the immune system. Dr. However, he adds that it might also be possible to use the vaccine to preempt nicotine addiction in those that have never smoked. Nicotine patch may help improve memory, study finds. By Linda Carroll Nicotine may help tune up the brains of seniors suffering from mild memory loss, a new study shows.
Researchers found that seniors suffering from mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, could boost their memories with a nicotine patch, according to the study published in Neurology. The patches also led to improvements in attention and mental processing. But these effects weren’t as strong as the impact on memory, said study co-author Dr. Paul Newhouse, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Cognitive Medicine at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
MCI is considered to be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, bringing similar, though less severe, symptoms such as mild memory loss, slowed thinking and attention problems. Experts suspect that in MCI, just as in Alzheimer’s disease, there is deterioration and death of nerve cells in the brain that make a critical chemical messenger called acetylcholine. Dr. It does make sense that nicotine might help, Leone said. Nicotine patches, gum won't help smokers quit: Study - HealthPop. (CBS) For smokers who want to make the leap to quit, are nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) the way to go?
A new study suggests therapies like the nicotine patch and gum may not be as effective as some smokers trying to quit might hope. PICTURES - 55 gruesome tobacco warning labels For the study, researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts Boston followed 787 adult smokers in Massachusetts who had recently quit smoking. They asked whether the participants had used a nicotine replacement therapy - including nicotine patches, gum, inhalers or nasal sprays - to help them quit, and if they had, for how long. Participants were also asked if they had received help from a quit-smoking program, doctor, counselor or other professional. What did the study show? The study was published in the Jan. 9 online edition of Tobacco Control.
If nicotine therapies don't work, what does? Dr. The CDC has more on smoking cessation. © 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.