Yet more uses discovered for Champix

Not long after it was reported that Champix is being investigated for treating alcoholism, a further report in the journal Neurology claims that it aids the walking ability of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA3), a degenerative condition of the brain.

Some of the conditions are described below, featuring a Japanese girl afflicted with the condition from the age of 15:



According to the report, half the people in the trial were given Champix and half the placebo. Nausea was reported in some subjects.

The group of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia is far smaller than the group of people for whom this drug was primarily designed – smokers who wanted or could be persuaded to attempt to stop smoking using prescribed drugs. People with SCA3 are in an extreme situation (those wanting to give up smoking are not). Immense care must be taken with this drug because of the thousands of reports over the years of adverse effects. If Champix can be provided to these people without causing them to  lose the will to live, and it helps them, it could be a much better use for it than using it as a smoking cessation 'aid'.

It's a big 'if', because the authorities have not wholeheartedly recognised the strong side effects of Champix. It might be all too easy to put depression down to the circumstances of being afflicted with SCA3 – just as people experiencing adverse effects after taking Champix are presumed to be distressed simply because they are withdrawing from tobacco.