Strategies to minimize weight gain after smoking cessation: psychological and pharmacological intervention with specific reference to dexfenfluramine.

Cigarette smoking suppresses body weight, discouraging many smokers from trying to quit. Behavioural therapies have so far proved unsuccessful in preventing post-cessation weight gain, and have in fact tended to undercut abstinence from smoking. The mental demands of implementing behavioural weight management strategies may compete with the concentration needed to maintain abstinence from smoking. Consequently, a pharmacological approach offers potential treatment advantages by minimizing the effort needed to achieve weight control. Of the agents found effective in minimizing weight gain, serotoninergic drugs, particularly dexfenfluramine, show special promise because they prevent an increase in caloric intake but do not decrease energy intake below pre-cessation levels.