Smoking Menthol Cigarettes Tied to Stroke
People who smoke menthol cigarettes were more likely to have a history of stroke than smokers who prefer regular cigarettes, an analysis of federal health survey data indicated.
Among 5,167 current smokers participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2008, those who reported that they usually smoke menthol cigarettes were more than twice as likely to have had a stroke as those smoking nonmenthol cigarettes, according to Nicholas Vozoris, MD, MHSc, of St. Michael’s Hospital and Queen’s University in Toronto.
Vozoris calculated an odds ratio of 2.25 for a history of stroke among the menthol versus nonmenthol cigarette smokers (95% CI 1.33 to 3.78), according to his research letter published in the April 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
“These results highlight the need for further review of the last legally allowed tobacco additive in North America, given that mentholated cigarettes may be placing individuals at even greater risk of potentially devastating cerebrovascular disease than regular cigarettes,” Vozoris wrote.
Much of the difference was seen among women and whites, he found.
The odds ratio for stroke history among female menthol cigarette smokers was 3.28 (95% CI 1.74 to 6.19) and among non-African-Americans - who were predominantly white - it was 3.48 (95% CI 1.70 to 7.13).
The calculations reflected adjustments for age, sex, race, education, household income, body mass index, recent smoking behavior, and age at which the respondent started smoking regularly.
Are Menthol Cigarettes Riskier Than Non-Menthol?
People who smoke menthol cigarettes are no more likely - and may actually be less likely - to develop lung cancer than people who smoke non-menthol cigarettes, a study suggests.
The study, published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, comes out nearly a week after an FDA advisory panel stated that removing menthol cigarettes from the market may improve public health because menthol cigarettes may be more difficult to quit than non-menthol cigarettes and may be more enticing to young smokers because of their minty taste.
Menthol cigarettes are also more popular with African-American smokers, who have a higher incidence of lung cancer.
Vozoris indicated that histories of other cardiopulmonary conditions - hypertension, MI, heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - were not significantly related to menthol cigarettes.
Odds ratios for these conditions in menthol versus nonmenthol cigarette smokers ranged from 0.89 to 1.32 among all smokers in the analysis, none of which came close to statistical significance.
Menthol Cigarettes and Lung Cancer
But “the new study information almost closes the door on the lung cancer issue,” says study researcher William J. Blot, PhD, of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. “The main message is that cigarettes are harmful, regardless of whether they are menthol or non-menthol, and the best action is to quit smoking.”
“I don’t think there is enough scientific evidence to justify a ban of menthol cigarettes in comparison with non-menthol cigarettes,” Blot says.
In the study, researchers identified 440 people with lung cancer among 85,806 study participants from 12 Southern states. They compared the smoking status and cigarette preferences of lung cancer patients with those of 2,213 people without lung cancer.
They found that smoking menthol cigarettes was actually associated with a significantly lower rate of lung cancer and lung cancer deaths than smoking non-menthol cigarettes.
Among pack-a-day smokers, menthol smokers were 12 times more likely to develop lung cancer compared to never smokers; those who smoked non-menthol cigarettes were 21 times more likely to develop lung cancer than those who never smoked.