'Quit-smoking' Drug Safe For Patients With Lung Disease: Study

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st May, 2017 ) : Medication that helps smokers to quit is safe for people with chronic lung conditions, new research suggested. Experts said smokers with smoking-related diseases should be prescribed the drug to stop their illness from progressing.

Doctors have previously been reticent to give the drug to these patients because of reported links to heart disease and depression. According to researchers, they found no evidence of such a link and that concerns are unwarranted.

A study of more than 14,000 people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD, found that those using the drug were no more likely to suffer a heart attack than those using nicotine replacement therapies, Medical Daily reported.

Treatment did not affect their risk of depression or self-harm either, researchers said.

COPD is a group of lung conditions that are usually associated with tobacco smoking, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

The diseases are caused by damage to the lungs that result in severe breathing difficulties and a persistent cough. More than a million people in the UK are affected by COPD and cases are rising.

The costs of treating the condition are expected to top 2.5 billion Pounds by 2030. The study was led by researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dusseldorf and is published in Thorax.

Professor Daniel Kotz, from the Institute of General Practice of the Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf Germany, said, "COPD is irreversible and worsens with time. The only proven way to stop the illness from progressing is to quit tobacco smoking."