This is a study, led by the University of Bristol, and published in Addiction Journal. It was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the research partner of the NHS, public health and social care.

The most effective tobacco cessation pharmacotherapies are combination therapies, particularly varenicline and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) combined. Varenicline, bupropion, and NRT are recommended as first line treatments to stop smoking by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). 

The researchers identified 363 trials for effectiveness and 355 for...

Background:

Tobacco smoking and e-cigarette use are strongly associated, but it is currently unclear whether this association is causal, or due to shared factors that influence both behaviours such as a shared genetic liability. The aim of this study was to investigate whether polygenic risk scores (PRS) for smoking initiation are associated with ever use of e-cigarettes.

Methods and findings:

Smoking initiation PRS were calculated for young adults (N = 7,859, mean age = 24 years, 51% male) of European ancestry in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a prospective birth...