Heated tobacco products are designed to heat tobacco without burning it or producing smoke.
The popularity of these products soared in Japan after the release of an electronic device called IQOS in 2016.
Heated tobacco products are now available in many countries, but questions remained about their effect on cigarette smoking and health, so we set out to review the evidence.
Our new review covers data from 11 studies with over 2,600 people. The headline finding is that people who switched from cigarettes to heated tobacco had lower levels of exposure to harmful chemicals than those who kept smoking, but higher levels of these toxins than those who stopped using tobacco altogether.
This lower exposure was found across a number of harmful substances linked to cancers, heart disease and respiratory problems. This means it is possible that switching from cigarettes to heated tobacco could reduce the odds of developing these diseases, but we don’t have enough data yet to be sure. The studies were all of short duration, and it typically takes a while for people to develop tobacco-related diseases.
Scott White – The Conversation – 2022-01-06.
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