Multiple tobacco products raise cancer risks
Use of multiple tobacco products can heighten the chances of getting cancer and cardiovascular diseases, says a new study conducted by researchers in the United States.
According to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarettes and other tobacco products, when consumed together, led to increased nicotine addiction that the users found tough to quit and caused tobacco-related cancers, heart diseases and stroke.
The CDC researchers analysed data from 13 states included in the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and found that young adults aged between 18 to 24 (5.7 percent), singles (4.8 percent) and men (4.4 percent) were the most likely to use cigarettes in combination with other forms of tobacco such as cigars, pipes, South Asian leaf-wrapped cigarette, and kreteks.
One in four adults in the 13 states used at least one form of tobacco. In general, use of any tobacco product ranged from 18.4 percent in New Jersey to 35 percent in West Virginia, says the study that appears in this week's issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"Every day, smoking kills more than 1,000 people and is the leading preventable cause of death. The more types of tobacco products people use, the greater their risk for many diseases caused by tobacco, such as cancer and heart disease," CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden says.
Multiple tobacco products use ranged from one percent in New Jersey to 3.7 percent in West Virginia. Among the users in US, the whites accounted for 26.2 percent with the blacks a close second with a 24.4 percent rate of tobacco use. Tobacco products use among Hispanics was comparatively low at 19.7 percent.
The study also found that married people (21.2 percent) were less likely to use any type of tobacco than those who were widowed/divorced (29.1 percent), single (30.3 percent), or unmarried couple (36.3 percent).
Educated people tend to use less tobacco products. At 33.1%, people with less than a high school education were more likely to use any type of tobacco than those with college education or more at 20.5 percent, the CDC study found.