Since yesterday, smokers who want to quit smoking have a new drug funded by the national health system. This is Recigarum and it is the second treatment whose financing has been approved since the beginning of the year, after the approval in February of Todacitan.
The sale price to the public is 111 euros (without financing). The relevant prescription reduction must now be applied, at least 50%. The fact that it has arrived has also meant a drop in the price of Todacitan, by 5%, to 111 euros. The discount, as a proposal from the Polish pharmaceutical company Aflofarm, took place the same week that the general management of the Common Portfolio of Services of the National Health and Pharmacy System gave its approval to the funding of the Recigarum (October 10), according to it is on the website of the Ministry of Health.
As in the case of the first, Recigarum (produced by the Adamed pharmaceutical company, also Polish) is based on cytisiniclin, an alkaloid obtained from the extract of the seeds of trees of the genus Cytisus laburnum. It was discovered in 1818 and first synthesized in 1864. Russian and German soldiers consumed it during World War II as a cheap substitute for tobacco, according to a Stanford University study. Why is it effective? Because it simulates the effects of nicotine on the brain. As a partial agonist of nicotinic receptors, cystine stimulates them (reduces withdrawal symptoms) and blocks them (reduces the need to smoke).
One container of Cytisicline (100 tablets) is enough for a complete treatment cycle. The treatment lasts 25 days (like Todacitan). Start with six pills daily (one every two hours) for the first three days; five daily (every 2.5 hours) from the 4th to the 12th day; four daily (every three hours) from the 13th to the 16th day; three daily (every five hours) from the 17th to the 20th day, and one or two tablets daily between the 21st and 25th.
The decreasing dosage favors patient adherence to treatment. You should stop smoking no later than the fifth day of therapy, because the adverse reactions could get worse. If it fails, it must be interrupted and can be resumed after two or three months, despite the fact that Social Security will only finance one treatment per year.
Does it have adverse effects? The Spanish Medicines Agency explains that they mostly take place at the beginning of the treatment and that they disappear throughout it. In addition, he points out that the symptoms may be a consequence of quitting smoking and not of the treatment with citicycline. The most common (may affect more than 1 in 10 patients) are: changes in appetite, weight gain, dizziness, irritability, mood changes, anxiety, increased blood pressure (hypertension), dry mouth, diarrhoea, rash, exhaustion or sleep disturbances. And, as common symptoms (between 1 and 10 in 100 patients): difficulty concentrating, slow heart rate and feeling unwell.
