Tobacco: menthol lovers have more difficulty quitting

Lovers of menthol cigarettes have a harder time quitting than others, according to a study published in the "Archives of Internal Medicine."

In the United States, rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other smoking-related diseases are significantly higher among African Americans than among Caucasian Americans, despite a lower prevalence of smoking. The first show also a clear preference for menthol cigarettes, compared with the second, in a proportion of 70% against 30%, say the authors.

They are therefore hypothesized that menthol cigarettes are more harmful than regular cigarettes to explain the significant difference in rates of tobacco-related diseases between the two ethnicities.

They examined the probability with 1535 smokers enrolled in the study on the development of coronary arterial risk in young adults (CARDIA), measuring the association between exposure to menthol cigarettes and smoking cessation, calcification coronary and changes in lung function over ten years.

The participants, aged 18-30 years at the time of inclusion in the study in 1985 passed a medical examination and answered various related issues during their smoking habits of their entry into the study, then 2, 5, 7, 10 and 15 years after.

In 1985, 63% of smokers showed a preference for menthol cigarettes, 89% of African Americans, 29% against the other, this type of cigarettes smoked. Menthol smokers had also tend to be women, younger and less smoking.

During follow-up, the authors found that menthol smokers were more likely to continue smoking than others: for example in 2000, 69% were still smoking, 54% of consumers against other types of cigarettes. After adjusting for variables, it was found that this difference was mainly due to the fact that African Americans preferred the menthols and they were also less likely to quit smoking, the researchers report.

"Among smokers who tried to quit, menthol does not seem related to the stop but, instead, it is associated with a reduced tendency to try," they write. In addition, menthol smokers were twice as likely to relapse after trying to quit and abstain for shorter periods.

However, the authors found no difference regarding ethnic coronary calcification and decline in lung function, both related to the number of cigarettes smoked, whether or not menthol.

"The scent of menthol cigarettes do not seem to explain disparities in ischemic heart disease or in obstructive pulmonary disease between African Americans and Caucasian Americans in the United States but may partly explain the lower rate of smoking cessation in smokers Afro-Americans, "the authors conclude, therefore advising them to change their habits and prefer regular cigarettes