Study: Snuff users tend to obesity

A Swedish study finds that people who use snuff are more likely to be overweight and to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Many people have turned to Swedish moist snuff or snus as a substitute for cigarettes. Researchers tracked 16,500 people in Västerbotten in northern Sweden and found that heavy snuff users were four times as likely to suffer from "metabolic syndrome," a cluster of symptoms that contribute to heart disease, The Local reported.

Margareta Norberg, one of the scientists, said snuff is still better than cigarettes -- but that doesn't mean people should use snus to give up smoking.

"That is not the conclusion that we have drawn, because cigarette smoking is even less healthy than using snus," she said.

But she said tobacco is unhealthy in any form.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International