The earliest pulished trials to evaluate anticholinergic medications were published in the journal Nature in 1970. In this study, monkeys were forced to inhale cigarette smoke to obtain water. Over time, the monkeys demonstrated nicotine addiction, in that over time they showed a preference for smoke over clean air. Injections of various anticholinergic medications were then shown to reverse this preference.
It was not until Bachynsky published his data in The International Journal of Addiction in 1986 that the use of anticholinergics was shown to have a similar effect on patients with nicotine addiction. Bachynsky reported that 39.8% of patients treated with a combinaton of atropine, scopolamine, and chlorpormazine remained smoke-free one year after treatment. Bachynsky's data was largely ignored as a result of unrelated legal trouble.
The SMART Shot ® is a new and improved anticholinergic smoking cessation shot consisting of a combination of two medicines that have been around for decades and are FDA-approved for indications other than quitting smoking.
These medicines are Scopolamine (which is the ingredient of the sea sickness patch) and Atarax (which is an antihistamine like Benadryl) in a unique formula to block the nicotine receptors in the brain and help ease the physical withdrawal associated with quitting smoking.
This anticholinergic block is then continued for the next 2 weeks by using a combination of the scopolamine patch and medications taken orally. The SMART Shot ® is a new formulation of a smoking cessation shot which was developed in 1983. The SMART Shot ® does not use atropine (which can make your heart race) or the antipsychotic medication Thorazine (chlorpormazine). After all, we agree that you are crazy for smoking, but not crazy enough to need Thorazine!
The SMART Shot ® is just as effective as the old shot with less chance of side effects. Unlike the old shot, which took three shots (two behind the ear and one in the buttocks); the SMART Shot ® is given with just one shot in the hip or buttock!
At the Quit Doc Smoking Treatment Network we have helped thousands of people quit using theSMART Shot ® with a success rate of between 70-80%. Our results are so impressive that we were asked to present our data at the American College of Chest Physicians meeting in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Back
Several variations of a "smoking shot" have been used since the 1970's. Most commonly, the shots consist of anticholinergic medications.
Interest in the use of anticholinergic medications comes from the presence of Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptors in the Central Nervous System and the Autonomic Nervous System. Nicotine stimulates the excitatory pathways of the autonomic nervous system, mimicking the natural "fight or flight" response. In addition, nicotine stimulates the Dopamine pathway of the CNS, which triggers the reward center and leads to addiction. It was felt that blockade of the nicotinic receptors might ease withdraw symptoms, and offer an effective treatment for nicotine addiction.
