A new treatment to stop vaping in adolescents?

In the United States, vaping is common among teens. Indeed, they use e-cigarettes more than any other tobacco product, and none of them are safe. A recent trial might have brought a new solution for teens wanting to quit vaping.

Most students using tobacco product 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 and have unsuccessfully attempted to do so. In 2024, 5.9% of North American students were 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞-𝐜𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬, with 87.6% using flavored e-cigarettes and 26.3% using an e-cigarette every day. A 12-week trial, whose results have recently been published in the 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, has investigated the effect of 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 on vaping in teens and young adults. Of note, it had been suggested in a previous article that varenicline could help adults stop smoking by binding to nicotine receptors in the brain, thus 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭.

A total of 261 young patients aged between 16 and 25 years were included. During 12 months, two groups benefited from 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨, weekly counseling, and vaping cession support through text messages. 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 at 12 weeks were 𝟓𝟏% 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 and 14% in the placebo group. 𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 the beginning of the study, abstinence was still higher in the varenicline group (28% vs 7% in the placebo group). Adverse events 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 between groups. The rate of abstinence reached at 6 months was deemed pretty good.

Nicotine is especially problematic 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 because an 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 occurs during this period of life in brain regions essential for mature cognitive and executive function, working memory, reward processing, and emotional regulation. Continuous nicotine exposure 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.