NicVAX Information Sessions

Naltrexone reduces weight gain in smokers trying to quit

The drug naltrexone might help reduce weight gain in smokers as they try to quit, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers published March 27, 2006 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.  “These results show that naltrexone has promise when it comes to helping people reduce the weight gain so often associated with quitting smoking,” said Stephanie O’Malley, lead author of the study and principal investigator for the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) at Yale. “This is an important finding because many smokers won’t even attempt to quit because they are concerned about gaining weight.” For more information, please see our story.

Authors on the study include Stephanie S. O’Malley, PhD; Judith L. Cooney, PhD; Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, PhD; Joel A. Dubin, PhD; Sherry A. McKee, PhD; Ned L. Cooney, PhD; Amy Blakeslee, BS; Boris Meandzija, MD; Denise Romano-Dahlgard, APRN; Ran Wu, MS; Robert Makuch, PhD; Peter Jatlow, MD.

New book explains how to treat smokers

Both established and promising new pharmacological treatments can be used to tackle nicotine addiction, according to "Medication Treatments for Nicotine Dependence", a new book that outlines numerous state-of-the-art ways to treat people who want to quit smoking. The book is edited by Dr. Tony P. George, associate professor of psychiatry from Yale University School of Medicine, and a member of the Yale Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC). The book will be published in August, 2006. For more information, please see our story.

Smoking in rural China crowds out other household expenses

When someone pays for cigarettes in rural China, they often are doing so at the expense of other critically important household needs, including food, utilities and education, according to a study by Dr. Hong Wang, Ph.D., M.D., a professor at the Yale School of Public Health. The study, published in a recent issue of Social Science & Medicine, says that smoking in rural China has a big effect on families by siphoning money away from other areas that could benefit the family. To find out more, please read our story.

CENTURY/TTURC was created to help smokers who have the greatest need for help, those who cannot quit or have trouble doing so. We are taking a transdisciplinary approach that attacks this problem from all angles. Our research team includes experts in psychiatry, behavioral neuroscience, social psychology, women's health issues, clinical trial monitoring, biostatistics, public health, economics, adolescent psychiatry, lab medicine, neurochemistry, policy analysis and molecular neuroscience.

One of our key areas of focus is trying to determine the best treatment for women, people who drink or people who are depressed, since research shows that those are the groups that most often relapse. Other areas of focus include the effect of smoking on productivity and whether smokers and others will pay for new treatments.