Researchers say
- Swedish Snus Reduce the Risk of Lung cancer
Swedish
snus is ground; cured, moist smokeless product that is much safer than conventional
smoking cigarettes. Researchers say that Snus does not cause any increased risk
for lung or mouth cancer for non smokers and even could improve a significant
health benefit to the population if smokers switched to snus. But Snus users
are at least twice more likely to get pancreatic cancer than people who never
smoke- according to two scientific articles published recently in The Lancet.
In the first article, Dr Coral Gartner, School of Population Health, University
of Queensland, Australia and colleagues evaluated thoroughly the potential population
health effects of smokeless tobacco products like Swedish
portion and loose Snus in Australia to estimate the difference in life expectancy
between never-smokers and those with varying scales of tobacco use, including
switching from smoking cigarette to snus. They did not find any remarkable difference
in health adjusted life expectancy between smokers who quit all tobacco and
smokers who switch to snus.
The authors conclude: "Current smokers who switch to snus
rather than continuing to smoke can realize substantial health gains. Snus could
produce a net benefit to health at the population level if it is adopted in
sufficient numbers by inveterate smokers.
Relaxing current restrictions on the sale of snus is more likely
to produce a net benefit than harm, with the size of the benefit dependent on
how many inveterate smokers switch to snus."
In the second Article, Dr Olof Nyrén, Clinical Epidemiology
Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues studied around
280 000 Swedish construction workers tobacco consumption habits from 1978 to
1992, and then followed them up until 2004.
They found no increased risk of lung or oral cancer in snus
users compared to never-smokers, but did find that snus users were around twice
more likely to get pancreatic cancer than never-smokers. But smokers were still
more likely to contract pancreatic cancer than snus users.
The authors say: "Our finding is at odds with the perception
that the use of Swedish moist snus has no demonstrable carcinogenic risk.
"If valid, it will have important public health implications,
since snus has been proposed as a way to reduce harm in nicotine addicts."
In an accompanying Comment, Dr Jonathan Foulds, Tobacco Dependence
Program, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey School of Public Health,
USA, says: "The papers in The Lancet, when added to mounting epidemiological
evidence, indicate that we should not delay in allowing snus to compete with
cigarettes for market share, and we should be prepared to accurately inform
smokers about the relative risks of cigarettes, snus, and approved smoking-cessation
medications.
"In light
of all the available evidence, the banning or exaggerated opposition to snus
in cigarette-rife environments is not sound public health policy."
© 2008 www.swedsnus.com
Snus Reduces the Risk of Cancer