The current review included 22 North American and European studies that looked at the risk of death associated with cigars and cigarettes. The studies primarily included white men who began cigar smoking in the 1960s, the researchers noted.
Cigar consumption in the United States more than doubled from 6.2 billion in 2000 to 13.7 billion in 2011, according to the researchers. Over that same time period, there was a 33 percent decrease in cigarette consumption.
The growing use of cigars by older children and young adults is particularly troubling, the study authors said. In 2009-2010, about 16 percent of Americans ages 18-24 said they had smoked cigars at least one day in the past 30 days, the researchers reported.
Other recent research found that in 2012, nearly 13 percent of U.S. high school students had smoked cigars or cigarillos (smaller, more narrow cigars) at least one day in the past 30 days.