Posted on Sat, Nov. 07, 2009

e-mail	print	RSS	reprint
AIM	Digg it	del.icio.us	Facebook

Study: Switch to 'light' cigarettes hinders efforts to quit smoking

By Shari Roan

Los Angeles Times

Smokers who want to quit and think a good first step is to switch to light or low-tar cigarettes might be making a mistake. A study has found that those smokers instead have about a 50 percent lower chance of giving up smoking.

The research, published in the November issue of Tobacco Control, analyzed survey data from about 31,000 smokers who were asked whether they had switched to a milder or low-tar brand of cigarettes and the reasons for the switch.

They were queried about whether they had tried to give up smoking and if they could currently call themselves nonsmokers. Those who switched brands were 58 percent more likely to have attempted to give up smoking than those who stayed with one brand but were 60 percent less likely to successfully quit.

It's not clear why switching to light cigarettes backfires, said the authors, from the University of Pittsburgh. Switchers may have changed their behavior in ways that made quitting harder.

Low-tar cigarettes deliver amounts of tar, nicotine and other substances that are comparable with regular cigarettes, the authors said. These "light products" make up 84 percent of the market.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@