Tens of millions of smokers around the world confirm that they like the taste of menthol cigarettes because it reduces the taste of nicotine. However, how the menthol in cigarettes can affect human health? As often happens in medicine, menthol cigarettes have their pros and cons.
Scientists have long feared that the menthol contained in menthol cigarettes, increases the speed of penetration of chemical additives through the mouth and throat, and accelerates their getting into the blood stream. Menthol increases throughput of these membranes to all kinds of water-soluble chemicals.
The taste of inhaling menthol cigarette is more pleasant to the taste, so, menthol cigarette smokers longer hold the tobacco smoke during a puff. Menthol, after burning releases toxic chemical element benzopyrene.
The positive side is that, despite the additional risk factors, we can not say that menthol cigarettes are more dangerous to the smokers health than usual cigarettes. If you smoke menthol cigarettes, it does not mean that it will increase the risk of cancer, heart disease or emphysema.
National Institute of Heart, Lung, and Blood Diseases carried out a project called CARDIA, dedicated to the risk of cancer developing in young people. The project was attended by people who are over 15 years old that smoked menthol and regular cigarettes. The number of respondents included both African Americans and Europeans.
Studies have found that in menthol cigarettes smokers the chances of developing emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not greater than the likelihood of the same diseases in regular cigarettes smokers. The same results were also in the case of cancer, and coronary artery disease.
Some brands of menthol cigarettes, for example, Salem, were released specifically for those who believe that smoking is a “dirty” habit. «Salem» cigarette brand is manufactured by RJ Reynolds, which also released so-called “clean” cigarettes (cigarettes with filter) in the US and Europe under the brand names Eclipse, Salem Preferred, and Vantage. Designed specifically for women, cigarettes practically are tobacco odorless and contain tar just 1 mg per cigarette.