Drug developed to help smokers pack in the habit without withdrawal symptoms

SCIENTISTS have developed a drug that could help smokers quit without withdrawal symptoms.

The medicine breaks down nicotine in the blood before it can deliver a “hit” to the brain.

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Tests in hooked rats showed it quickly reduced their desire to take the addictive substance.

It also reversed their signs of dependence and stopped them relapsing when offered it again.

Around 7.4million people in the UK smoke, with up to two in three likely to die of cancer as a result.

The habit is the biggest single preventable cause of the disease worldwide.

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Around six in ten people who try cigarettes end up as daily smokers. And three in four daily smokers relapse after quitting.

Smokers report limited success with nicotine replacement therapies and going “cold turkey”.

Health officials are pushing vaping as a better alternative but some studies suggest it is also harmful.

Researchers at Scripps Research, in California, now plan to trial their treatment in humans.

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Study leader Dr Olivier George said: “This is a very exciting approach because it can reduce nicotine dependence without inducing cravings and other severe withdrawal symptoms.

“It works in the bloodstream, not the brain, so its side effects should be minimal.”

The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.