Smoking Pills to quit smoking -
Does it work?
Just pop in smoking pills and kiss all your smoking woes goodbye. Does it sound fictitious or straight out of a sci-fi movie? Well, the fact is that is that the smoking pills are reality and not just a mere probability. Though the smoking pill seems to be a ray of hope and can help people avoid the big ‘C’ or the more devastating medical term called cancer, there could be nothing better than getting rid of the habit altogether.
Medical science has gone a really long way in bettering our lives over the years. Not only has medical science helped cure innumerable diseases and also helped in their prevention in the from of vaccines and drugs, but also the field has now shown great hope in even curbing the negative effects of the addictive and potentially life-threatening habit like smoking.
It is not a myth today that science has the answers to help people enjoy their daily dose of tobacco without worrying about the repercussions of it. The smoking pills seems to be the answer and the solution to everyone’s smoking woes. In the world-renowned magazine called the ‘New Scientist,’ a bunch of researchers and scientists have reported to have found a way in which the negative effects of smoking can be completely alleviated.
The smoking pills are based on the study of the various biochemical pathways in the body. To understand a little about the field of genetics, genes are the major factors that control the genetic expression and production of other bio molecules in the human body. The precursor component of all genetic mechanisms is from RNA to DNA. Micro RNA controls the overall expression of a large bunch of genes in the pathway.
The researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine studied this in the lab and decided that there was a possibility of creating a smoking pill. The main problem is when a person smokes, there is undue harm caused to all the airways and the lining of the throat. Nicotine enhances and triggers the production of many harmful molecules in excessive amounts by the cells lining these major airways in all smokers. A total of around twenty-eight such harmful and biologically dangerous products were found in the airways of chronic smokers and chain smokers.
The smoking pills are based on the mechanism of micro RNA action. One of these micro RNAs is the mir-218. It is believed to be involved in protecting the cells lining the airways as well as the lungs from the oxidative dangers of smoke by completely controlling a set of genes involved in the protective process as mentioned above.
So, one of the best ways to curb the harmful effects of smoking would be to either create and manufacture mir-218 supplements or design efficient drugs that will restore the micro RNA levels of the smokers to the normal and acceptable level of non smokers. The smoking pill fits into the second option under the area of drug designing.
