Shoshana Mayden

email address: smayden@ag.arizona.edu

The Arizona Daily Star
November 30, 1992

UA researcher studies nicotine inhaler as way to kick smoking habit

For six weeks last summer, Ann Ellerd inhaled nicotine from a plastic tube in an attempt to quit smoking.

She was one of 30 participants in a pilot study of the UA Smoking Research and Treatment Program. The study tested a new nicotine inhaler designed to help smokers kick the habit.

Ellerd used the inhaler, which resembles a cigarette holder, and about six nicotine cartridges each day. She gradually weaned herself off the nicotine, ending a 26-year habit.

Ellerd, 44, had gone "cold turkey" twice before, but she couldn’t quit.

"It’s hard to kick a 26-year habit in six weeks," said Ellerd, who hasn’t smoked a cigarette in four months. "I feel that the inhalers really helped me in the quitting process."

This month, the University of Arizona began clinical trials using the inhaler. A yearlong study of 220 people will test the safety and effectiveness of the product, said Scott Leischow, the program’s director.

The inhaler is similar to nicotine patches and nicotine gum, Leischow said, but it is designed for smokers who are dependent on the hand-to-mouth behavior involved in smoking.

"The idea is that it gives them something to hold while they’re trying to quit," said Leischow, an assistant professor of health education at the university.

"Some people seem to be more dependent on the behavioral habit than the nicotine," he said.

Ellerd said that the inhaler took the place of cigarettes in her daily routine.

"You pick up the phone, you pick up a cigarette," she said. "This enabled me to have something to hang onto."

Each disposable inhaler comes with five cartridges that contain nicotine-soaked sponges. When a cartridge is punctured and inserted into the 3-inch tube, it can be inhaled for several hours. Each cartridge is equivalent to about five cigarettes.

Leischow is looking for regular smokers in good health to participate in the study. Patients will not be compensated but will receive the materials free.

Half of the study participants will use cartridges with nicotine and the other half will receive a placebo.

Patients will be allowed to inhale up to 20 cartridges a day during the first three months of the study. They will then gradually reduce the amount used over the next three months. A follow-up visit will be conducted at the end of six months to find out if the patient is still smoking.

The study is funded by Kabi Pharmacia, the Swedish company that manufactures the inhaler, Leischow said. It is also being tested at the University of California at Los Angeles and in Europe.

Study results will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If the inhaler proves effective and is approved by FDA, it couldbe available--with a doctor’s prescription--in two or three years, Leischow said.

Other devices such as the nicotine patch and gum have proven to be more effective than stopping smoking abruptly, Leischow said. Nicotine gum and patches are 10 percent to 15 percent effective, he said. When coupled with a behavior-modification program, the success rate can climb to 30 percent.

There are no known health risks from the nicotine inhaler, Leischow said. Nicotine vapor from the inhaler is absorbed in the mouth. Side-effects can include throat and mouth irritation and a slight cough.

Ellerd said she felt irritable and restless during the first month of the study. She changed some of her habits and increased exercise to relieve stress.

Ellerd said she still craves cigarettes. Although she hopes to remain a non-smoker, she said she is taking it "one day at a time."

For more information about the program, call 621-9956.