Stop smoking and stop drinking with one little pill!  That is the message we may hear in the near future from the makers of Chantix.  The pill that is already on the market to help smokers stop lighting up may have promise to stop alcoholics from picking up.  Chantix or Varenicline has the jump on nicotine patches and gum because it actually blocks nicotine from activating the nicotine receptors in the brain.  If they are not activated when you smoke then you don’t get that reinforcing pleasure sensation from the behavior.  That is supposed to reduce your craving for nicotine but I am sure there are some hardcore smokers that light up anyway.A recent news release tells us that there are some researchers in California got some rats dependent on alcohol by having them binge drink 37 times thus creating a craving for alcohol.  When these partying rats were given chantix they actually cut their drinking amount in half.  The plan is to start human studies and see if this may be another weapon in the anti-craving arsenal.  The good news is Chantix is already an approved FDA medication.http://www.news-medical.net/?id=27317

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