Prolonged Use Of Swedish Moist Snuff Increases Risk Of Fatal Cardiovascular Disease And Stroke
12/18/2007 staff Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) A new doctoral thesis from the Department of Environmental Medicine at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet demonstrates that consumers of Swedish moist snuff a smokeless tobacco called 'snus' run a higher risk of dying from cardiac arrest and stroke. Snus also increases the risk of high blood pressure, a known factor of cardiovascular disease. The use of snus has increased markedly in Sweden in the past few decades, so much so that it now accounts for half of all tobacco consumption in the country. Over 20 per cent of men between the ages of 18 and 79 are daily users. Consumers of snus absorb as much nicotine as smokers but are spared many of the toxic chemicals that are formed on smoking. Although snus does not seem to increase the risk of myocardial infarction, one of the studies reported on in this doctoral thesis shows that its consumers run a 30 per cent (approximately) higher risk of fatal heart attack than people who have never used the product. This greater risk is even higher for those who take more than 50 grams of snus a day. Amongst those who suffer non-fatal heart attacks, users of snus have a higher fatality rate in general than non-users, and from cardiovascular diseases in particular. The studies reveal no greater risk of stroke amongst users of snus; however, users were more likely to suffer a fatal stroke. Users also ran a higher risk of developing high blood [...]