Cigars Are Just As Deadly As Cigarettes, New Research Reveals

It's unlikely that most people are regularly smoking cigars--at least like they smoke cigarettes. Yet recent findings published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

For the study, researchers tested more than 25,500 participants for chemical signs of tobacco exposure while focusing on five chemicals, including the following: cotinine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), lead, cadmium and arsenic. Researchers found that NNAL levels between cigar smokers and cigarette smokers were quite similar.

"Cigar smoking exposes users to similar types of harmful and cancer-causing agents as cigarette smoking," said lead study author Dr. Jiping Chen, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Science, Center for Tobacco Products, in a news release. "Once differences are accounted for in frequency of use, the levels of NNAL, a strong carcinogen, are comparable in cigar and cigarette smokers."

The findings were particularly bad for cigar smokers who had a history of cigarette smoking. The study showed that they had higher cotinine and NNAL concentrations than cigar smokers who had never smoked cigarettes.

"Cigar smoking exposes users to similar types of harmful and cancer-causing agents as cigarette smoking," concluded Dr. Chen.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the article "Biomarkers of Exposure among U.S. Cigar Smokers: An analysis of 1999-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Data."