Snus and health related research (long)

[La Cusiniere]

These are synopses of research studies from schizophrenia.com on the use of snus and the health-related issues The full listing of research links on smoking and mental health is at http://www.schizophrenia.com/smoke/s...moking.res.htm

Here are the snus studies:
SNUS Research Studies and Articles:

* Should the European Union lift the ban on snus? Evidence from the Swedish experience. Recent data has found that among those starting tobacco use in the form of snus, 20% later go on to smoking while the same risk for those not starting with snus is 43%. On balance, there is reason to believe that having snus available to the Swedish population has been of benefit to public health. Repealing the ban on snus in the rest of the European Union might also have some positive effect, depending on the marketing
* Effect of smokeless tobacco (snus) on smoking and public health in Sweden - CONCLUSIONS: Snus availability in Sweden appears to have contributed to the unusually low rates of smoking among Swedish men by helping them transfer to a notably less harmful form of nicotine dependence.
* Evaluation of carcinogen exposure in people who used "reduced exposure" tobacco products - CONCLUSION: Switching to reduced-exposure tobacco products or medicinal nicotine can decrease levels of tobacco-associated carcinogens, with greater reductions being observed with medicinal nicotine. Medicinal nicotine is a safer alternative than modified tobacco products.
* Influence of smoking and snus on the prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes amongst men: the northern Sweden - Conclusion: A negative effect of smoking on the risk of type 2 diabetes seems well established and was also found both in the present and in our study. Importantly, however, others and we found an increased risk only in subjects having consumed >20 cigarettes day. In line with the observed non-linear dose response for smoking, we found in our study an increased risk of diabetes only in snus-users who consumed three boxes of snus (50 g each) per week with no tendency for any increase at lower levels of exposure.
* The burden of mortality from smoking: comparing Sweden with other countries in the European Union Almost 500,000 smoking-attributable deaths occur annually among men in the EU; about 200,000 would be avoided at Swedish smoking rates. In contrast, only 1100 deaths would be avoided if EU women smoked at Swedish rates. The low smoking-related mortality among Swedish men probably is due to their use of snus (Swedish smokeless tobacco).
* Role of snus (oral moist snuff ) in smoking cessation and smoking reduction in Sweden Conclusion: Our study suggests that by using snus, Swedish male smokers may increase their overall chances of abstinence. However, 71% of the men in this sample who quit smoking did so without using snus and the duration of abstinence was not affected by snus use. This suggests that snus is not a necessary component of smoking cessation at the population level. Snus use was very rare among women.
* Evolving patterns of tobacco use in northern Sweden CONCLUSIONS: The use of snus played a major role in the decline of smoking rates amongst men in northern Sweden. The evolution from smoking to snus use occurred in the absence of a specific public health policy encouraging such a transition and probably resulted from historical and societal influences.
* Reduction in nicotine intake and oral mucosal changes among users of Swedish oral moist snuff after switching to a low-nicotine product These results indicate that snus users compensate to a small extent for the lower nicotine delivery by increasing their consumption on short-term switching but the same does not apply to long-term users
* Genotoxicity testing of extracts of a Swedish moist oral snuff. Based on these results, the carcinogenic potential of Swedish 'Snus' should be considered to be low, a conclusion in agreement with the low incidence of oral cancer in Sweden compared to other countries.
* Evaluation of Carcinogen Exposure in People Who Used "Reduced Exposure" Tobacco Products CONCLUSION: Switching to reduced-exposure tobacco products or medicinal nicotine can decrease levels of tobacco-associated carcinogens, with greater reductions being observed with medicinal nicotine. Medicinal nicotine is a safer alternative than modified tobacco products
* Smokeless tobacco use and risk of cancer of the pancreas and other organs The increase in the relative risk of pancreatic cancer was similar in former and current snus users and was restricted to current tobacco smokers. Our study suggests that smokeless tobacco products may be carcinogenic on the pancreas. Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines are plausible candidates for the carcinogenicity of smokeless tobacco products in the pancreas.
* Health risks of smoking compared to Swedish snus Although few in number, these seven studies do provide quantitative evidence that, for certain health outcomes, the health risks associated with snus are lower than those associated with smoking. Specifically, this is true for lung cancer (based on one study), for oral cancer (based on one study), for gastric cancer (based on one study), for cardiovascular disease (based on three of four studies), and for all-cause mortality (based on one study).
* European Union policy on smokeless tobacco - A statement in favour of evidence-based regulation for public health
* Evaluation of Carcinogen Exposure in People Who Used “Reduced Exposure” Tobacco Products
* Most smokeless tobacco use is not a causal gateway to cigarettes: using order of product use to evaluate causation in a national US samplef

[La Cusiniere]

Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines in Snus?

There was a mention if TSNNs in the above article. These compounds are suspected to cause an increased risk of pancreatic cancer,and they are a byproduct of tobacco processing.

The levels of Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines in Swedish snus are negligible when compared with Western tobacco products, including all forms of "dip".

BTW, check out the artice on snus on the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus

[chainsnuser]

I guess, we will never know everything for sure ... just like the scientists :lol:.

Every dangerous disease, that could be connected with snus use, is just too rare, to have any statistical relevance, unlike lung cancer, which can too easily be identified as a direct risk of smoking. Even mouth cancer, which overall seems to be more related to genes or age, than to any habit, appears more often among smokers than among smokeless-tobacco-users.

I believe, using snus is much less risky than living in a big city, breathing exhaust emissions most of the time.

Cheers!

[Subtilo]

I believe, using snus is much less risky than living in a big city, breathing exhaust emissions most of the time.

That's the most plausible thing I've read today! I agree completely. I'll spare you the details about the stuff that I've been able to blow from my nose after various stays in big cities (particularly London), but one thing is certain: that stuff has not been through the Swedish machinery!