A chemical compound from a certain plant may be better than other techniques at getting smokers to kick the habit, HealthDay reported on Thursday.
The compound is called cytisine and it's an acid-like chemical found in golden rain tree seeds. It has been implemented to help smokers in Eastern Europe quit for decades, but it's not widely available just yet.
"Cytisine is one of the most affordable smoking cessation medicines available," said lead researcher Natalie Walker, an associate director of the Center for Addiction Research at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
More than 1,300 women and men who called a national smoking quit line in New Zealand were randomly assigned to 25 days of treatment with the compound or two months of treatments like nicotine gums, patches or lozenges.
Roughly 40 percent of the group taking cysteine pulls said they hadn't picked up a cigarette, compared to 31 percent of those who were using traditional nicotine therapies.
Nicotine is mirrored by cysteine so smokers feel satisfied when taking it and are less likely to crave a cigarette.
"To the brain, cytisine looks a little like nicotine, and so it works to alleviate any urges to smoke and reduces the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms," Walker said.
Walker added that the compound is cheaper than other common methods of smoking cessation, according to Christianity Daily. But researchers did point out that some of the study subjects experienced side effects while on cytosine.
"Three out of every 10 people who used cytisine had a side effect, compared to two out of every 10 that used nicotine patches, gum and/or lozenges," Walker said. "Some people felt nauseous or sick and some had sleep disturbances, such as bad dreams."
