HHS HealthBeat (August 6, 2010)

Unsafe safe smokes?

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

We know tobacco and nicotine are bad for you. They can give you cancer, among other things. But what about cigarettes made with lettuce, which don’t have tobacco and nicotine? Do they have less risk?

Well, a study that looked at these tobacco-free cigarettes found evidence that the smoke from them damaged DNA in ways that could be expected to lead to cancer. At New York Medical College, Professor Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz:

"Smoke from cigarettes that do not contain tobacco and nicotine is inducing DNA damage in cells to an even greater extent than smoke from standard cigarettes." (11 seconds)

His advice is to avoid smoke, from cigarettes of any type and from other sources.

The study in the journal Cell Cycle was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 21, 2011