VARENICLINE, a medication often used to help people quit smoking, can help teens and young adults stop vaping, according to a US study published today in JAMA.
The study divided around 260 people aged 16-25 who vaped nicotine and did not regularly smoke tobacco into three groups.
In the 12-week treatment program, all three groups received text message support to quit vaping.
In addition, one group received varenicline and counselling, and another was given placebo pills and counselling.
The researchers reported that 51% of the varenicline group were not vaping at 12 weeks compared to 14% in the placebo group, and the varenicline group continued to have higher rates of abstinence at six months (28% vs 7%).
Those that received only text messages had similar results to the placebo group.
Side effects with varenicline were mild to moderate nausea, vivid dreams and insomnia, and very few participants dropped out.
"To our knowledge, this is the first pharmacotherapy trial for nicotine vaping cessation in youth," wrote the authors.
"Varenicline, when added to brief, remotely delivered behavioural counselling, is well-tolerated and promotes vaping cessation compared with placebo in youth with moderate to severe addiction to vaped nicotine," they concluded.
Read the paper HERE.
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