Swedish snuff – Oral Cancer News

Top EU official resigns after snus bribe probe

Source: www.thelocal.se A complaint by Swedish Match about a suspected bribe meant to influence European tobacco policy has resulted in the resignation of EU health commissioner John Dalli, the European Union's top health official. "Commissioner John Dalli has today announced his resignation as a member of the Commission, with immediate effect," the European Commission announced in a statement released on Tuesday. Dalli's resignation, the first for a member of the Commission since 1999, came following the release on Monday of report detailing the findings of an investigation carried out by the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF, into a complaint filed by Swedish tobacco company Swedish Match in May 2012. The complaint alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur sought to leverage his connections with Dalli, also of Malta, in order to "gain financial advantages" from Swedish Match in exchange for attempting to influence "a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus". Snus – also known as Swedish snuff – is a tobacco product invented in Sweden in the early 1800s which has gained in popularity in Sweden after smoking was banned in restaurants in 2005. The sale of snus is outlawed in the European Union, but due to exemptions, it is still manufactured and consumed primarily in Norway and Sweden. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers Protection recently unveiled a proposal that would ban all smoke-free tobacco products outside of Sweden. The Swedish government has for years been trying to sway the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-10-23T07:45:13-07:00October, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Oral Cancer in Swedish Snuff Dippers

Source: Anticancer Research Abstract Over recent decades there has been debate over whether or not Swedish snuff is carcinogenic in humans. Animal studies and molecular biological and experimental studies have shown the carcinogenic potential of Swedish snuff, but this has not been proved in prospective randomized studies. We present a case series of patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas diagnosed at the sites where the patients had used Swedish snuff for several years. Sixteen male patients were referred to and treated at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Departments and Ear, Nose and Throat clinics at seven different hospitals in Sweden. The mean age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 72.9 years and the mean time of snuff use prior to cancer diagnosis was 42.9 years. This case series shows that Swedish snuff may not be a harmless alternative to smoking. This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Charlotte Parker2012-07-26T09:25:39-07:00July, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Maternal use of swedish snuff (Snus) and risk of stillbirth

Source: www.bioportfolio.com Author: Wikström, Anna-Karin Background: Swedish snuff has been discussed internationally as a safer alternative to tobacco smoking. International cigarette manufacturers are promoting new snuff products, and the use of Swedish snuff is increasing, especially among women of childbearing age. The effect of Swedish snuff on pregnancy complications is unknown. Methods: In this population-based cohort study, we estimated the risk of stillbirth in snuff users (n = 7629), light smokers (1-9 cigarettes/day; n = 41,488), and heavy smokers (>/=10 cigarettes/day; n = 17,014), using nontobacco users (n = 504,531) as reference. Results: Compared with nontobacco users, snuff users had an increased risk of stillbirth (adjusted odds ratio = 1.6 [95% confidence interval = 1.1-2.3]); the risk was higher for preterm (<37 weeks) stillbirth (2.1 [1.3-3.4]). For light smokers, the adjusted odds ratio of stillbirth was 1.4 (1.2-1.7) and the corresponding risk for heavy smokers was 2.4 (2.0-3.0). When we excluded women with preeclampsia or antenatal bleeding and infants who were small for gestational age, the smoking-related risks of stillbirth was markedly attenuated; the elevated risk for snuff users remained the same level. Conclusions: Use of Swedish snuff during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of stillbirth. The mechanism behind this increased risk seems to differ from the underlying mechanism in smokers. Swedish snuff does not appear to be a safe alternative to cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Source: Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) Authors Affiliations: a Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; b Department of Women's and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-21T12:54:01-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|