Blacks suffer from lung cancer more than any other population group in the U.S. The percentage of Black men diagnosed with lung cancer each year is at least 30% higher than among white men, even though they have similar rates of smoking as white men.
In fact, Black men tend to smoke fewer cigarettes per day than white male smokers. While Black women are less likely to smoke than white women, they are about as likely to develop lung cancer and die from lung cancer as white women.
The fact is smokers who think cigars (Black n’ Milds, Swishers) or pipes are somehow safer than cigarettes may want to think again.
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According to a study, researchers tracked the health and habits of more than 357,000 Americans from 1985 to 2011 and found that, compared to people who had never smoked, people who regularly smoked only cigarettes had double the risk of death in that time frame, from whatever the cause.
Furthermore, they had quadruple the odds of dying from a tobacco-linked cancer such as cancer of the lung, bladder, esophagus, pancreas, larynx, and mouth. If you love smoking cigars, you aren't entirely off the hook.
Cigar smokers had a 20 percent elevated odds of death from any cause, and a 61 percent higher risk of death from a tobacco-linked cancer, the researchers reported in an issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Rates for pipe smokers were similarly high: This group had a 58 percent higher risk of dying from a tobacco-linked cancer during the study period, compared to never-smokers.
"In 2015, an estimated 12.5 million people in the United States aged 12 years or older were current cigar smokers," noted the research team, which was led by Carol Christensen, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products.
The study authors also noted that just under 1 percent of Americans said they have smoked some sort of tobacco pipe at least 50 times over their lifetime.
Two medical experts said the study sends an importantmessage, especially to young people who might think one form of smoking is less dangerous than another.
"Combustible tobacco used in any form is a cancer risk, and pipe and cigar smokers cannot be given a pass," says Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Patricia Folan directs the Center for Tobacco Control at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y.
She notes that "a full-size cigar can contain chemicals the equivalent of one pack of cigarettes, and individuals who switch from cigarettes to cigars frequently unintentionally inhale cigars the way they inhaled cigarettes – exposing them to large amounts of the hazardous substances in cigar smoke."
There was some good news from the FDA study, however: The risk of death from any cause or tobacco-linked cancers fell once smokers quit.
So, Folan says, "I would not say that cigars are better than cigarettes – but quitting is." She urges smokers "to ask for help from your health care provider" on kicking the habit.
For more information on lung cancer, visit our health conditions tab on BlackDoctor.org.
