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Listen Up, Smokers: Cutting Back Isn't Good Enough

If smoking 40 cigarettes a day is bad, you might think that smoking 20 would be half as bad. But reducing tobacco use doesn't reduce cancer risk by the same amount, and researchers have provided a clue as to why: Smokers who cut back compensate for the drop in nicotine by inhaling more smoke from each cigarette.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota looked at two groups of people: 64 heavy smokers who were cutting back their use, and 62 light smokers. Both groups smoked the same number of cigarettes, and their urine was tested for NNAL, a chemical that indicates a person's exposure to the toxins in tobacco. The average level of NNAL in the heavy smokers who had cut back was more than twice that of the consistently light smokers. The findings were published in the December edition of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

Article can be read in its entirety by clicking on Smoking.

posted by Mike @ 3:00 PM