Cigarettes infused with cloves: Detailed analysis of nicotine levels and beyond
Clove cigarettes, often known as "kretek," have been marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes due to their distinctive flavour. However, recent studies have revealed that these cigarettes contain harmful ingredients beyond nicotine and tobacco, posing significant health risks.
Quitting smoking can add as much as 10 years to a person's life expectancy, and the same applies to quitting clove cigarettes. Yet, these cigarettes are associated with several serious health issues, including asthma, oral diseases (including oral cancer), cardiovascular diseases, and heart attacks, due to their unique composition.
Clove cigarettes consist of tobacco, cloves, and a blend of plant extracts and oils. While cloves may give these cigarettes their distinctive flavour, they also contain eugenol, a spicy/clove-flavored compound that can cause respiratory irritation when inhaled.
Eugenol is not the only harmful ingredient in clove cigarettes. They also produce harmful combustion byproducts such as carbon monoxide, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These substances are responsible for systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and increased risk of cancers, cardiovascular, and pulmonary diseases.
Compared to conventional cigarettes, clove cigarettes introduce additional toxicants mainly due to the presence of eugenol and related aromatic compounds. This can add to respiratory irritation and toxicity.
Despite some marketed claims of being “natural” or safer, the presence of these additional toxicants in clove cigarettes does not reduce health risks compared to conventional tobacco cigarettes. Epidemiological and toxicological data suggest that clove cigarettes might increase some risks due to flavoring compounds, but overall, they share many of the same harmful health effects as conventional cigarettes, including addiction and carcinogenicity from the common combustion toxicants.
Quitting smoking is a challenging but achievable goal. Creating a personalized quit plan that includes nicotine replacement therapy, talking therapy, and joining a support network can help. Keeping busy to help distract from cravings, setting a quit date for the near future, and identifying and changing environmental factors that may make it easier to quit are also effective strategies.
Healthcare professionals can connect a person to additional resources, make referrals for talking therapy, prescribe medications to help with quitting smoking, and arrange regular follow-ups to ensure continued support and to help prevent relapses.
It's important to remember that secondhand smoke from both clove and conventional cigarettes can also cause harm. Exposure to secondhand smoke can contribute to sudden infant death syndrome in infants, lead to respiratory and ear infections in children, and cause reproductive health issues such as low birth weight.
Informing family and friends about plans to quit and asking for their help and support can aid in quitting smoking. Smoking is associated with a variety of diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, heart disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, age-related macular degeneration, tuberculosis, and erectile dysfunction.
In summary, while clove cigarettes may offer a unique flavour, they contain the same harmful combustion products as conventional cigarettes plus eugenol, which carries additional toxicological concerns. Both types pose serious health risks, including cancer and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Quitting smoking, whether it's clove cigarettes or conventional ones, is a crucial step towards improving one's health and longevity.
