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Still Images/ Getty Images A cheap quit-smoking drug offered in Eastern Europe can help smokers quit, but it's not as efficient as more costly medications offered in the U.S, a brand-new study discovers. Scientists from University College of London led a research study of 740 Polish cigarette smokers who were randomly appointed to attempt the smoking-cessation drug cytisine (Tabex) or placebo for almost a month.
4% of the cytisine group stayed smoke-free, while only 2. 4% of the control group were still abstinent. More than triple the benefit? That may appear remarkable, but Tabex's success rate fades in contrast to that of varenicline (Chantix), a popular stop-smoking drug offered in the U.S., which research studies reveal assists about 20% of smokers remain abstinent, compared to about 10% of placebo takers, after 12 months.

About 4. 6% of cytisine users reported psychiatric problems, compared to 3. 2% of the placebo group, a small increased risk of these adverse effects. (Common adverse effects consisted of nausea and stomachache.) Cytisine, which is made from Golden Rain acacia seeds, also costs much less than varenicline. It has been offered in Eastern Europe because the 1960s, according to the authors.
Cytisine works by mimicking nicotine and binding to acetylcholine receptors in the brain, which can trick the body into believing it's being exposed to nicotine. While even the authors warn that it may not be the most powerful anti-smoking representative readily available, they note it may be of help to a specific portion of cigarette smokers, especially in the establishing world.
And anything that curbs the desire for cigarettes is an advantage for public health. Alice Park is an author at TIME. Find quitting smoking timeline on Twitter at @aliceparkny. You can likewise continue the conversation on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

The general goals of this research study are to 1) evaluate awareness of interest in using pharmacotherapy for smoking cigarettes cessation in Croatia and Slovenia, countries in Central Europe with very high cigarette smoking frequency, and 2) examine whether cytisine is at least as possible and efficient as varenicline in assisting cigarette smokers to stop in a real-life setting: household medication practices in Croatia and Slovenia.