Menthol cigarettes are very popular today: the cooling flavor reduces the harshness of tobacco smoke and suppresses coughing, leaving people with the dangerous illusion that menthol cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes. However, a new study has clearly shown that this is not the case at all. Moreover, banning such cigarettes could save hundreds of thousands of lives.
According to Medportal.ru, scientists from the University of Michigan have created a simulation model of current trends in the consumption of different types of cigarettes. They developed a hypothetical scenario for banning menthol cigarettes starting in 2021, based on an expert assessment of the potential health effects of smoking. The researchers then compared the difference between mortality and the cumulative number of years of life lost until 2060, if the ban was imposed and not.
As it turned out, the abandonment of the production of menthol cigarettes will lead to a decrease in the smoking rate in the United States by 15% by 2026. The number of deaths among smokers will decrease by about 5%, and the number of years lost – by 8.8%. Over 40 years, a ban on menthol cigarettes will save at least 650,000 American lives.