Live Life Team
Many people mistakenly believe that cigarette smoking carries a lower risk of disease than cigar smoking. Health risks usually associated with both cigars and cigarettes are actually strongly linked to the degree of exposure to smoke.
Smoke from cigars and cigarettes is made up of many of the same cancer-causing chemicals. The only difference in health risks appears to be directly related to the frequency of use. Most people who smoke cigarettes smoke every day and inhale; however, up to 75 percent of cigar smokers smoke only occasionally and with very little inhaling.
Cigarette smokers also have a greater chance of developing cancer of the larynx because of the inhalation factor. The risk of lung cancer in cigar smokers who smoke daily but do not inhale is more than twice that of smoke-free people but noticeably less than that of cigarette smokers. However, the lung cancer risk from inhaling smoke from five cigars a day is roughly the same as that of a cigarette smoker who smokes one pack a day.
All cigar and cigarette smokers directly expose the lips, mouth and tongue to smoke, whether they inhale or not. Even holding an unlit cigar or cigarette between the lips will expose the user to large amounts of these chemicals. The oesophagus is also exposed to the chemicals when saliva is mixed with them in the mouth and then swallowed. This is one reason why the risk for oesophageal and oral cancers is comparable in both cigar and cigarette smoking.
