Caution! This tobacco product may be the reason behind your insomnia and asthma

Snus is a moist powder, smokeless tobacco pouch causing breathing and sleep problems to users, said by Swedish research centre. SNUS "snooze," like “loose” is placed under your top lip. It comes in various flavours such as mint and wintergreen. You don’t burn it, and you don’t have to spit when you use it.

“In comparison to cigarette smoking, the use of snus is probably not much harmful,” says Michael Steinberg, MD, MPH, director of the tobacco dependence program at Rutgers University. “But there’s an enormous difference between ‘less harmful’ and secured.”

There are no studies on the possible effects of snus on the respiratory system. Although asthma should be improved by stop using snus.

Based on questionnaires answered by more than 16,000 never-smokers in Sweden, researchers found that snus users were over 50 percent more likely than non-users to have asthma. In addition, snus users were 37 to 59 percent more likely to snore and have trouble falling asleep, the study found. Snus, which was developed in Sweden, usually comes in a small pouch and users tuck a pinch of it between the gums and upper lip. “Snus is used by a substantial proportion of especially young and middle-aged men in Sweden,” said senior study author Dr. Christer Janson of the University of Uppsala.

16,082 people were never-smokers and roughly 18 percent of men and 5 percent of women used snus. Overall, younger people were more likely to be dual users of snus and smoked tobacco, while older people were more likely to smoke than to use snus. Snus users were more likely to suffer from wheezing and night-time chest tightness, chronic bronchitis, and chronic nose and sinus problems, when compared with participants who were completely tobacco-free. Nearly 27,000 people, ranging in age from 16 to 75, responded. They lived in one of four Swedish cities: Uppsala, Stockholm, Ume or Gothenburg: usually, smoke snus.  

The study team also found that people who reported having asthma were more likely to be current snus users and the same link wasn’t seen among past snus users, dual users or people who only smoked.

“My guess is that the finding between a higher risk of asthma in snus users is related to inflammation in the upper part of the airways. This inflammation can then expand to the lower parts of the airways and thereby cause asthma,” Janson said.

The study reports some novel findings, and the sample is quite impressive, said Lucy Popova, of the Georgia State University School of Public Health in Atlanta.