However, it turns out that snus is not perceived as a good smoking cessation aid. It leads to continued addiction and easily leads to mixed use of snus and cigarettes. A development that is most common among the low-educated.
It is the doctor Gunnar Lundqvist at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University who has researched why some smokers easily manage to become tobacco-free while for others it seems impossible to quit.
The results are presented in the thesis Tobacco habits in middle age, where a section deals with experiences of quitting smoking.
One group where many are motivated to quit are middle-aged smokers.
– Middle age is a stage when you realize that life is finite and start to take an interest in a healthier lifestyle. Then you also do something about tobacco use. It becomes a turning point, says Gunnar Lindqvist.
Why some smokers can't possibly quit is a question that still hasn't been answered.
– Half of smokers who have had a heart attack continue to smoke. To help them, we need to have follow-ups for a much longer period than we have now. Preferably a form of contract that makes it possible to contact them even after a year.
Gunnar Lindqvist has also found that healthcare does not have the role for tobacco users that is imagined.
– Smokers do not believe that they should bother healthcare about their smoking if they are not sick. Therefore, there would be a need for units outside the healthcare system, spa-like lifestyle centers, where it would be natural for tobacco users to also come and meet competent personnel.
The full title of the thesis is Tobacco habits in middle age, risk factor patterns, smoking cessation attitudes and experiences of quitting smoking.
It is based on data from 99,381 participants in the Västerbotten Health Surveys project and on information about how tobacco habits have changed among 16,484 Västerbotten residents over a ten-year period.
The data on the importance of smoke-free dining and snus comes from a 2007 survey of 3,500 people who had stated in a survey the year before that they used tobacco.
