Hello,
Thought I'd introduce myself.
I'm from Portsmouth in the UK and am new to snus having only tried it a few weeks ago. I've been trying a few different brands and find that, by far, my fave is Nick and Johnny Los. Goterborgs Rape Los is great too, but at the moment I am enjoying a pris of Offroad Cranberry Los.
My reason for snusing is that I have been a smoker, on and off, since I was about 17 (I'm 37 now) and even though I have successfully stopped smoking in the past, I have always started again. Snus for me is a wonderful way to stop me going back to cigarettes, and I have now come to really dislike the smell of cigarettes.
I am currently working as a service engineer, but my background is 14 years in medical science, so I have spent a lot of time reading as many academic and peer reviewed papers on the subject of snus as possible. I am sure that I am preaching to the choir, but I am convinced that the studies carried out regarding cancer/cardiovascular risk are large enough, and robust enough to have shown any problems in these areas. I am aware that one of the studies did show a slight risk of pancreatic cancer, but pancreatic cancer is relatively rare anyway, and interestingly the rates of pancreatic cancer in Sweden is actually higher in women compared to men (1.6% of cancer diagnoses in men in 2004 vs 2.0% of cancer diagnoses in women in 2004 (1)). If snus was such a risk factor for pancreatic cancer, surely it would be the other way round given that snusing is predominantly a male preserve? So, overall, having thoroughly reviewed the evidence, my conclusion is that Swedish snus, manufactured in the traditional Swedish way, do not present an increased risk of cancer (head, neck, mouth, oesophageal, stomach and lung) to the user. I have to admit that there is evidence to suggest that snus users do run an increased risk of death from a cardiovascular event, but this risk is not so high that it worries me.....if this were not the case then there would be a strong and distinct association between snus use and death due to stroke or heart attack. Sorry for all the academic stuff, but its my training and nature coming to the fore
Personally, I feel that the 'all tobacco is bad' lobby is wrong and the the EU ban on sales of snus is akin to prohibiting the sales of bows and arrows when machine guns are freely available in every shop. Additionally, snus is a lot cheaper than smoking. I reckon that a tin of los will last me at least a week, so a 10 tin roll of snus (even with the rumoured hike in price) will work out at about £4 a week.....hardly an expensive habit, and like I said, if it stops me going back to the cigarettes then there is no argument about the price.
My regards to all the noble snusers on this forum
Cheers
Steve
1. Cancer Incidence in Sweden 2004, The National Board of Health and Welfare, Centre for Epidemiology.
Thought I'd introduce myself.
I'm from Portsmouth in the UK and am new to snus having only tried it a few weeks ago. I've been trying a few different brands and find that, by far, my fave is Nick and Johnny Los. Goterborgs Rape Los is great too, but at the moment I am enjoying a pris of Offroad Cranberry Los.
My reason for snusing is that I have been a smoker, on and off, since I was about 17 (I'm 37 now) and even though I have successfully stopped smoking in the past, I have always started again. Snus for me is a wonderful way to stop me going back to cigarettes, and I have now come to really dislike the smell of cigarettes.
I am currently working as a service engineer, but my background is 14 years in medical science, so I have spent a lot of time reading as many academic and peer reviewed papers on the subject of snus as possible. I am sure that I am preaching to the choir, but I am convinced that the studies carried out regarding cancer/cardiovascular risk are large enough, and robust enough to have shown any problems in these areas. I am aware that one of the studies did show a slight risk of pancreatic cancer, but pancreatic cancer is relatively rare anyway, and interestingly the rates of pancreatic cancer in Sweden is actually higher in women compared to men (1.6% of cancer diagnoses in men in 2004 vs 2.0% of cancer diagnoses in women in 2004 (1)). If snus was such a risk factor for pancreatic cancer, surely it would be the other way round given that snusing is predominantly a male preserve? So, overall, having thoroughly reviewed the evidence, my conclusion is that Swedish snus, manufactured in the traditional Swedish way, do not present an increased risk of cancer (head, neck, mouth, oesophageal, stomach and lung) to the user. I have to admit that there is evidence to suggest that snus users do run an increased risk of death from a cardiovascular event, but this risk is not so high that it worries me.....if this were not the case then there would be a strong and distinct association between snus use and death due to stroke or heart attack. Sorry for all the academic stuff, but its my training and nature coming to the fore
Personally, I feel that the 'all tobacco is bad' lobby is wrong and the the EU ban on sales of snus is akin to prohibiting the sales of bows and arrows when machine guns are freely available in every shop. Additionally, snus is a lot cheaper than smoking. I reckon that a tin of los will last me at least a week, so a 10 tin roll of snus (even with the rumoured hike in price) will work out at about £4 a week.....hardly an expensive habit, and like I said, if it stops me going back to the cigarettes then there is no argument about the price.
My regards to all the noble snusers on this forum
Cheers
Steve
1. Cancer Incidence in Sweden 2004, The National Board of Health and Welfare, Centre for Epidemiology.
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