The mellowing taste of burning menthol cigarettes makes it harder to quit, reveals a new study. Although both menthol and non menthol cigarettes pose equal health risks, the former are more addictive and thus harder to quit.
Menthol, a mint-derived substance, causes skin to feel cooler by arousing nerve endings that sense cold temperatures. Due to its pleasant, cooling sensation it becomes a hot favorite among cigarette manufacturers. It is because of this cooling sensation that smokers inhale more tobacco smoke with each drag.
The study named Coronary Artery Risk Development In Young Adults (CARDIA) was lead by Dr. Mark Pletcher of the University of California, San Francisco.
The researchers analyzed the health reports of 1,535 smokers over a 15 year period. The study’s focus was to understand the high disparity in smoking-related ailments between African-American smokers and Caucasian smokers. Smoking related deaths mount to 440,000 each year in the U.S.
The study initiated in 1985 included smokers in the age group 18 to 35. 727 men and 808 women collectively made up the database of 1535 smokers.
Under the study, the participants were medically examined and interviewed with questions related to their smoking habit, social and lifestyle changes at predetermined intervals during the 15 year period.
Results revealed that 63 percent of the smokers preferred menthol cigarettes. Another estimate cites 70 percent of African-American smokers to be addicted to menthol smoking whereas only 30 percent of the white Amerecians preffered menthol cigarettes.
On completion of study, Pletcher reports that out of the 1,535 smokers, 69 percent who smoked menthol cigarettes in 1985 were still smoking in 2000 as compared to 54 percent of smokers who smoked regular cigarettes. Also menthol smokers were twice more likely to relapse and get back to smoking thus showing they are harder to quit.
"Menthol smokers were less likely to quit and more likely to relapse," Pletcher said.
Quoting both menthol and regular cigarettes as equally harmful Pletcher said, “We found that menthol cigarettes don't appear to be any more harmful than non-menthol cigarettes.” But the bottom line is that they both showed a similar decline in terms of heart disease, lung function and coronary calcification over 10 years.
Post new comment