Menthol Cigarettes Cause Lower Risks of Lung Cancer?

Most people certainly knows that smoking can cause various diseases. Some of them are heart attacks, impotence and lung cancer. Although it can cause lung cancer, a new study suggests that menthol cigarettes smokers appeared to have lower risk of lung cancer than non-menthol smokers.

In a study conducted William J. Blot from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, United States, it was found that smokers who smokes a pack of menthol cigarettes have 12 times greater risk of lung cancer than those who do not smoke. As for non-menthol smokers, they have 21 times greater risk of lung cancer.

This result was revealed after researchers conducted the identification of 440 people from 85,806 people being researched. They then compared the smoking habits and choice of cigarette of people affected by lung cancer with 2,213 people who are not affected by lung cancer.

Besides having a smaller risk, smokers of menthol cigarettes also smokes less than non-menthol smokers. But the level of difficulty of stopping smoking among menthol cigarette smokers and non-menthol are the same.

This result breaks previous studies that mentions that it is more difficult for menthol smokers to quit. According to Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D., professor of Public Health Sciences at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, menthol cigarettes provides carbon monoxide, nicotine and cotinine higher than regular cigarettes.

Menthol stimulates cold receptors, thus producing a cooling sensation. This effect may help smokers inhale more nicotine per cigarette and became more addicted, especially among young smokers.

Despite having a smaller risk, Blot confirms that it does not mean that menthol cigarette are more secure to consume. “The key message is that cigarettes are dangerous, menthol or not, the most appropriate is to stop smoking right now,” he said.

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