Consumers
not getting accurate information
about smokeless tobacco
05
Apr 2005
Information on the internet about
the health risks associated with
the consumption of smokeless
tobacco usually overstates the
risk. This is the conclusion of
research published today in the
Open Access journal BMC Public
Health, entitled "You might
as well smoke; the misleading and
harmful public message about
smokeless tobacco".
A study of 316 internet websites
showed that most government,
health advice, and advocacy
websites suggested that smokeless
tobacco use is as harmful as
cigarette smoking, even though
the risk is actually extremely
small compared to that from
smoking.
Carl V. Phillips, of the
University of Texas School of
Medicine Center for Clinical
Research and Evidence Based
Medicine and School of Public
Health, and colleagues report
that the public is unlikely to
find accurate information on the
comparative risks of smokeless
tobacco and cigarettes, leading
to misconceptions amongst
consumers. Phillips notes,
"smokers can dramatically
cut their risks by switching to
smokeless tobacco, a strategy
called 'harm reduction', but they
have little chance of learning
this. Similarly, authoritative
organizations are telling
smokeless tobacco users, in
effect, 'you might as well
smoke,' a public health message
that actually encourages people
to switch to a much more
dangerous product."
Phillips and colleagues conducted
a systematic review of popular
sources of information available
on the internet, by looking at
the content of websites that
provide information about
smokeless tobacco and health,
found using a Google search. They
found that of the 316 sites that
were suitable for inclusion in
the review, “almost every
website had statements that
played up the health risks from
smokeless tobacco without
caveat”. Furthermore,
“a large portion of websites
directly stated or implied that
the risks from smokeless tobacco
and cigarettes are similar”.
The websites of organisations
including the U.S. National
Cancer Institute and other
government agencies, the American
Cancer Society, and several of
the most popular health advice
sites contained information that
either explicitly or implicitly
suggested that the risks of
smokeless tobacco and cigarettes
are comparable.
According to the authors, this
association of the risks of
smokeless tobacco and cigarette
smoking may have important
negative health implications.
“Through these websites,
smokers and policy makers are
told there is no potential for
harm reduction, an unethical
message that is both false and
harmful to people's health”,
conclude the authors.
The harmful effects of cigarette
smoking have been well researched
and documented. Different tobacco
products are associated with
different levels of health risks,
and smokeless tobacco (the most
popular form of which in Europe
and North America is moist snuff,
held between the lip and gum) is
substantially less harmful when
compared with cigarettes.
Estimates typically put the risk
of dying from snuff use in the
range of 1% or 2% of that from
cigarette smoking, though some
experts put the estimate at or
near zero since snuff use has not
been definitively linked to any
fatal disease.
BMC Public Health publishes
articles on all aspects of
epidemiology and public health
medicine.
BMC Public Health is published by
BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com), a UK
based independent online
publishing house committed to
providing Open Access to
peer-reviewed biological and
medical research. This commitment
is based on the view that
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and the ability to freely archive
and reuse published information
is essential to the rapid and
efficient communication of
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BioMed Central currently
publishes over 100 journals
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and other non-original-research
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subscribers.
This press release is based on
the article:
You Might as Well Smoke;
the misleading and harmful public
message about smokeless tobacco
Carl V. Phillips, Constance Wang,
Brian Guenzel,
BMC Public Health 2005, 5:31 (5
April 2005)
This article is available free of
charge, according to BMC Public
Health s Open Access policy at biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-5-31.pdf Please
quote the journal in any story
you write, and link to the
article if you are writing for
the web.
SOURCE: http://www.alphagalileo.org
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