Of the estimated forty-eight million smokers in the US, thirty-four million are trying to kick their habit at any given time. And of those twenty million, only five percent, or less than two million, can expect to succeed permanently.
The other ninety-five percent may stop smoking for a few days, weeks, or months, but succumb to a moment of weakness and think, "Just one cigarette can't hurt." If they enjoy that cigarette--and the vast majority of them do--the days, weeks, or months of being nicotine-free will literally go up in smoke.
There may be, in the form of a stop-smoking vaccine currently under development an answer to their difficulties. The stop smoking vaccine in clinical trials is designed to work differently than the nicotine-based smoking cessation aids and nicotine-receptor binding injections which are currently on the market.
How The Stop Smoking Vaccine Works
Both the nicotine-based aids and injections allow either nicotine or drugs to pass the blood brain barrier and interact with the brain's nicotine receptors. The stop smoking vaccine, however, treats nicotine as an invading substance, and allows the body to develop antibodies which target the nicotine molecules as they enter the bloodstream.
By binding with the nicotine molecules, the stop smoking vaccine antibodies make them to large to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and they never get to the nicotine receptors to stimulate the release of dopamine which makes smoking so addictively pleasurable. The stop smoking vaccine will teach the body's immune system to treat nicotine as if it were any other infection.
The reason so many smokers are unable to quit is that they are nicotine addicts. Many stop smoking aids are nicotine-based and attempt to let the smoker gradually decrease his or her daily intake of nicotine until their cravings disappear. But they still allow nicotine to get to the brain, stimulating the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter which creates feelings of pleasure.
The stop smoking vaccine is given in a series of four shots over a period of twelve months, and with the administering of each shot the level of nicotine antibodies in the smoker's system will increase. Small amounts of nicotine will escape the antibodies at the beginning of the vaccination period, and help the smoker to weather nicotine withdrawal symptoms which are the downfall of so may smokers when they try to quit.
But by the time the fourth of the stop smoking vaccine shots has been administered, the smoker's immune system should be producing enough antibodies to bind with all the nicotine, if any, entering the bloodstream. If the stop smoking vaccine makes it to market, annual booster shots can help those who have stopped smoking stay off cigarettes for good.
Progress Of The Stop Smoking Vaccine
One company developing a stop smoking vaccine, Nabi Pharmaceuticals, reported in May of 2007 the successful outcome of Phase II of their clinical trials. Their vaccine has been fast-tracked for approval by the FDA, meaning that when Nabi successfully finishes its own clinical trials, the vaccine will be subjected to a much shorter FDA-approval process.
The other ninety-five percent may stop smoking for a few days, weeks, or months, but succumb to a moment of weakness and think, "Just one cigarette can't hurt." If they enjoy that cigarette--and the vast majority of them do--the days, weeks, or months of being nicotine-free will literally go up in smoke.
There may be, in the form of a stop-smoking vaccine currently under development an answer to their difficulties. The stop smoking vaccine in clinical trials is designed to work differently than the nicotine-based smoking cessation aids and nicotine-receptor binding injections which are currently on the market.
How The Stop Smoking Vaccine Works
Both the nicotine-based aids and injections allow either nicotine or drugs to pass the blood brain barrier and interact with the brain's nicotine receptors. The stop smoking vaccine, however, treats nicotine as an invading substance, and allows the body to develop antibodies which target the nicotine molecules as they enter the bloodstream.
By binding with the nicotine molecules, the stop smoking vaccine antibodies make them to large to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and they never get to the nicotine receptors to stimulate the release of dopamine which makes smoking so addictively pleasurable. The stop smoking vaccine will teach the body's immune system to treat nicotine as if it were any other infection.
The reason so many smokers are unable to quit is that they are nicotine addicts. Many stop smoking aids are nicotine-based and attempt to let the smoker gradually decrease his or her daily intake of nicotine until their cravings disappear. But they still allow nicotine to get to the brain, stimulating the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter which creates feelings of pleasure.
The stop smoking vaccine is given in a series of four shots over a period of twelve months, and with the administering of each shot the level of nicotine antibodies in the smoker's system will increase. Small amounts of nicotine will escape the antibodies at the beginning of the vaccination period, and help the smoker to weather nicotine withdrawal symptoms which are the downfall of so may smokers when they try to quit.
But by the time the fourth of the stop smoking vaccine shots has been administered, the smoker's immune system should be producing enough antibodies to bind with all the nicotine, if any, entering the bloodstream. If the stop smoking vaccine makes it to market, annual booster shots can help those who have stopped smoking stay off cigarettes for good.
Progress Of The Stop Smoking Vaccine
One company developing a stop smoking vaccine, Nabi Pharmaceuticals, reported in May of 2007 the successful outcome of Phase II of their clinical trials. Their vaccine has been fast-tracked for approval by the FDA, meaning that when Nabi successfully finishes its own clinical trials, the vaccine will be subjected to a much shorter FDA-approval process.
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