The tobacco quitting drug varenicline (Champix™) is not likely to increase the risk of self-harm or depression or cardiovascular disease, a large UK study reports. 

The drug was associated with a 20% reduced risk of ischaemic heart disease a 34% lower risk of depression and a 44% lower risk of self harm compared to users of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

The findings have clear implications for the safety warnings for varenicline (Champix™) and for clinical practice, the authors stated in the study published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

“They suggest an opportunity for physicians to prescribe varenicline more broadly, even for patients with comorbidities, thereby helping more smokers to quit successfully than do at present,” they concluded.