Snus causes premature death..

April 19, 2008 - Snus causes premature death.. Just like cigarettes, the use of SNUS, Swedish moist tobacco, causes premature death, a new 30-year study has shown. Of the 10,000 men studied a third died during the period. Most of them were smokers and common afflictions were heart and cancer-related illnesses. The use of snus has been found to increase the risk of premature death by around 10 percent in comparison with those who do not use any tobacco products, according to Upsala Nya Tidning. "Even if smoking is without question a much greater threat to health than snus our research rejects the view that the use of Swedish snus is in principle without risk," said Dr. Ann Roosaar at the Odontological Institute at Karolinska Institutet in Solna. The study began in the middle of the 1970s with the examination of the mouths of most of the inhabitants in the municipalities of Enköping and Håbo. The subjects also answered questions about their tobacco and alcohol habits. In contrast to previous studies this one shows that mouth and throat cancers were more common among users of snus, according to Roosaar. In a previous study, Dr. Roosaar and colleagues found a strong association between the degree of snus induced lesions and current snus consumption. As pointed out by Marita Broadstock (NZHTA Report, February 2007, volume 10 Number 1), the number of studies on smokeless tobacco is relatively slight compared to the wealth of literature published relating to smoking. More and more studies are surfacing that indicate that users of snus are at an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer and possibly even stomach cancer. Also, the snus user has an increased risk of fatal cardiovascular disease and stroke. In addition, the snus user has to cope with the toxic effects of nicotine, e.g., nicotine may accelerate atherosclerosis. (TobaccoWatch.org)