Study Links Menthol Cigarettes With Increased Stroke Risk

Menthol-cigarette smokers may be at higher risk of having a stroke than those who smoke other types of cigarettes, a new study suggests. Women and non-black smokers are at highest risk, HealthDay reports.

Researchers found those who smoked menthol cigarettes had more than twice the risk of suffering a stroke than regular cigarette smokers. Women and non-black smokers had more than three times the risk, the article notes.

The way in which menthol cigarettes might increase stroke risk is not known, the researchers said.

Lead researcher Dr. Nicholas Vozoris of St. Michael’s Hospital, in Toronto, said the findings do not indicate that any type of cigarette is safer than others. “There is no ‘good’ cigarette type,” he said. “Smoking any kind of cigarette is bad for one’s health, and serves to increase one’s risk for a variety of cancers, heart diseases and lung diseases. However, this study shows that smoking mentholated cigarettes may place one at even higher risk for stroke than smoking regular, non-mentholated cigarettes.”

The study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In 2011, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said a ban on menthol cigarettes could benefit public health, because the mint flavor seemed to make smoking more appealing. The panel did not conclude menthol cigarettes were more harmful than regular cigarettes.