A recent study conducted by JAMA Internal Medicine revealed that cigarettes were not the only type of tobacco products that can lead to premature death or fatalities from smoking-related cancers. There is only one difference – the people who exclusively smoke cigarettes have twice the risk of premature death. But people who use cigars or pipes are not safe either, according to the study. The research team was headed by Carol Christensen, member of U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products.
“Combustible tobacco used in any form is a cancer risk, and pipe and cigar smokers cannot be given a pass,” said Dr Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City to Medical Express.
The research tracked the health and habits of more than 3,57,000 US citizens from 1985 to 2011. Among the people who were selected for the research, 57% (2,03,071) never used tobacco. 5,7,251 participants were daily cigarette smokers. 531 participants were cigar smokers and 1099 participants had a daily habit of using pipes.
“Cigar smokers had a 20 percent elevated odds of death from any cause and a 61 percent higher risk of death from tobacco-linked cancer,” the research stated. Compared to the never smokers, pipe smokers had a 58% higher risk of dying from tobacco-linked cancer during the research period.
“A full-size cigar can contain chemicals the equivalent of one pack of cigarettes, and individuals who switch from cigarettes to cigars frequently unintentionally inhale cigars the way they inhaled cigarettes—exposing them to large amounts of the hazardous substances in cigar smoke,” said Patricia Folan who directs the Centre for Tobacco Control at Northwell Health in Great, New York.
Tobacco consumption in India
The findings in the study have relevance in the Indian context as the country stands as the second largest consumer and producer of tobacco globally. China tops the list. India also accounts for one-sixth of the world’s tobacco-related deaths. Tobacco is available in the country in wide varieties of smoke and smokeless forms. Tobacco consumption is highest in the states like Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, and Assam, according to the data published by the National Family Health Survey.
Source: The Logical Indian
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