Spit tobacco also kills

Switching from cigarettes to spit tobacco is not a good way to try to quit smoking. That's the conclusion of an American Cancer Society study that found that men who made that switch had higher death rates from lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, and all causes combined, than former smokers who stopped using any kind of tobacco product.

The study, which included 116 000 men, also found that those who switched from cigarettes to spit tobacco were more than twice as likely to die from mouth and throat cancers.

"Smokers who switched to snuff or chewing tobacco had considerably worse health outcomes than those who quit entirely," Dr Michael Thun, vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, said in a prepared statement.

"Any smoker who is trying to quit should use proven methods such as nicotine replacement, antidepressants, and behavioural counselling rather than tobacco products if they do not succeed in quitting without assistance," Thun said.

He said there is "currently no reliable evidence to support the promotion of alternative tobacco products for smoking cessation." – (HealthDayNews)

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Stop smoking Centre

February 2007