All contain nicotine, the addicting ingredient in tobacco that can also contribute to high blood pressure and worsen symptoms of heart disease. Smoking cigarettes kills more people than AIDS, car accidents, alcohol, homicides, illegal drugs, suicides and fires combined.
Oral lesions arise over time where the tobacco is held between the cheek and gum.
Some of these may become cancerous so it is important that they are closely monitored. Although mouth cancer is a small but important risk, chewing tobacco can also damage gums, expose roots of the teeth, stain teeth and cause bad breath. One thing chewing tobacco does not do is improve the reaction time for sports players. Studies show professional baseball players who chew tobacco struck out more times at bat than non-chewers, Dr. Christensen reports. Cigar smoking is not glamorous, as recent fads seem to indicate.