Schizophrenia is a debilitating and chronic brain disorder which affects 1% of the world population. There is significant evidence to indicate high rates of smoking in this patient population causing additional health problems for this group of individuals. There is a scarcity of studies examining the effects of psychopharmacologic interventions in helping schizophrenic patients to either reduce or stop their tobacco intake. Recent evidence shows superiority of bupropion HCl to placebo in cigarette smoking cessation. Although cessation of smoking should be the ultimate goal, many schizophrenics are unwilling or unable to quit. We would like to test the hypothesis that bupropion will cause reductions in nicotine use by schizophrenic patients. We propose to do a double blind randomized placebo-controlled within subject cross-over study in 10 subjects to establish the feasibility and acceptability of bupropion in this population. We hope that this study will provide pilot data to undertake a subsequent larger, clinical trial.
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