Addiction - Menthol Cigarettes More Addictive Than Regular Ones

[porchy]

I noticed a post in this section of the board and it reminded me that somebody once told me that menthol cigarettes are more addictive. Turns out what they had said was true.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found that menthol brands make it harder for heavy smokers to quit. Even if menthol and regular cigarettes were assumed to cause the same degree of addiction in smokers, findings of the current report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that smokers who prefer menthol cigarettes have a harder time kicking the habit.

The team involved in the study wanted to find out, in the first place, if menthol cigarettes are more harmful for smokers' health than normal brands. This could also explain why African-American population, who smoke less than whites, but love menthol cigarettes more, have higher rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer and other conditions caused by smoking. The results of the University of California study showed that menthol brands are not more harmful than normal cigarettes, but they make it harder for smokers to give up the bad habit.

Lead researcher of the study, Dr. Mark J. Pletcher, Assistant Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology explained: "We were interested to see if menthol cigarettes were more harmful than non-menthol cigarettes. If it were true, it might help explain some of the difference in disease rates between African-Americans and whites. However, we found that menthol cigarettes don't appear to be any more harmful than non-menthol cigarettes. However, there is some evidence that they may be harder to quit."

The study was conducted on 1,535 smokers who participated in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. Scientists found that of all the subjects in the study, 63% liked menthol cigarettes and only 36% normal cigarettes. Comparing black and white volunteers' preferences for menthol or non-menthol cigarettes, researchers also found that 89% of the African-American smokers would rather smoke menthol cigarettes and only 29% of the fair-skinned smokers would go for regular, non-menthol cigarettes.

But Dr. Norman H. Edelman, Scientific Consultant for the American Lung Association stated that the study carried out by University of California researchers is rather "weak" and provides no reliable information on whether menthol brands cause higher degrees of addiction in smokers or not. Also, the report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine does not succeed in finding answers for the disproportional rates of smoking-related conditions developed by African-American population as compared to their white counterparts.

"The statistics in the study seem weak. The authors themselves realize that a definitive conclusion of 'no difference' between the types of cigarettes would have required a larger sample size. So, instead of saying that the poorer health outcomes of African-American smokers is not related to their greater use of menthol cigarettes, we must say it 'does not seem to be related, based upon available information'".

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Menth...es-36447.shtml

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Interesting.
	Very interesting info on a lesser known topic.