THURSDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) -- People who smoke cigarettes
and also use other forms of tobacco have higher levels of nicotine
addiction, find it more difficult to quit using tobacco, and are at
greatly increased risk for tobacco-related health problems such as
cancer, heart disease and stroke, warns a new government study.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention analyzed data from 13 states included in the 2008
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and found that young
adults aged 18 to 24 (5.7 percent), single people (4.8 percent) and
men (4.4 percent) are most likely to use cigarettes in combination
with other forms of tobacco such as cigars; pipes; bidis, a South
Asian leaf-wrapped cigarette; and kreteks, cigarettes made with
tobacco, cloves and other flavors.
The study appears in this week's issue of
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the CDC.
It also found that one in four adults in the 13 states uses at
least one form of tobacco. Use of any tobacco product ranged from
18.4 percent in New Jersey to 35 percent in West Virginia.
Among the other findings:
- Rates of use of multiple tobacco products ranged from 1 percent
in New Jersey to 3.7 percent in West Virginia.
- Use of any tobacco was higher among whites (26.2 percent) and
blacks (24.4 percent) than among Hispanics (19.7 percent).
- Married people (21.2 percent) were less likely to use any type
of tobacco than those who were widowed/divorced (29.1 percent),
single (30.3 percent), or members of an unmarried couple (36.3
percent).
- People with less than a high school education were more likely
to use any type of tobacco than those with some college education
or more -- 33.1 percent vs. 20.5 percent.
"Every day, smoking kills more than 1,000 people and is the leading preventable cause of death. The more types of tobacco products people use, the greater their risk for many diseases caused by tobacco, such as cancer and heart disease," CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said in an agency news release.
More information
The American Cancer Society has more about
smoking, tobacco and health.