Stop smoking drug chantix ups risk of heart problems: study
The quit-smoking drug Chantix may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes by as much as 72 percent in smokers who take it, even those without heart disease, researchers say.
The new study comes just over a week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported a small but significant risk of heart attack and stroke among people with pre-existing heart disease using Chantix (varenicline).
"All smokers who take Chantix are at risk for heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event," said study author Dr. Sonal Singh, an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
