Nicotine Vaccine

[neightwatts]

Right on!

When I heard that Chantix works by blocking dopamine receptors, I predicted that side effects would include depression, anxiety, and confusion. Turns out that I was right about that.

The researchers seem stuck on the connection between dopamine and pleasure response. They ignore all the other beneficial and necessary functions performed by dopamine, as well as the other neurotransmitters enhanced by nicotine.

Instead of exploring all of the functions that nicotine performs for the user and designing their treatments to take up that slack, they assume that all smokers do it for one reason only: to get a buzz. Therefore the only approach they entertain is "How do I prevent the smoker from getting any pleasure from nicotine?"

This vaccine is even worse than Chantix, because it probably is irreversible. So when depression, anxiety, and confusion hit, I predict that they are going to be very difficult to treat--perhaps impossible. No way would I take that kind of risk.

If they want to design a treatment that would get me to stop, all they need to come up with is something that relieves depression and anxiety, promotes alertness and concentration, and prevents memory impairment. Preferably that would be a single drug that has minimal side effects. Oh, wait a minute! We already have such a drug. It's called nicotine.

[xybe]

I don´t live in the USA and my imagination can go wild some times, but cant you imagine a future where such a vaccine is mandated to get medical coverage, or at the very least for treatment of lung cancer and/or lung transplants.

Yeah, cutting down on analogs makes me paranoid, I know.