Effects of Smokeless Tobacco “Maras Powder” Use on Respiratory Functions
MEHMET AKIF BUYUKBESE, NURHAN KOKSAL,1 AYTEKIN GUVEN2 and ALI CETINKAYA
Department of Internal Medicine, 1Department of Pulmonary Disease, and 2Department of Cardiology, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras, Turkey
In Turkey, “Maras Powder,” which is a kind of powder yielded from the shields of tobacco, is widely used as smokeless tobacco through buccal mucosa or together with cigarette. Maras powder, composed of ash and a plant named Nicotiana Rustica Linn, is sometimes used to give up smoking. The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of Maras powder use on respiratory functions of healthy subjects who do not have any chronic disease. We found statistically significant differences in percentage of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1%) (p = 0.001), the ratio of FEV1 to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) (p = 0.024), percent of maximum expiratory flow rate (FEF25-75%) (p = 0.002) and percent of peak expiratory flow (PEF%) (p = 0.037) between cigarette smokers with Maras powder use (n = 23) and control subjects (n = 24). Likewise, when cigarette smokers (n = 24) and control subjects were compared, the differences for all these parameters were significant (p = 0.022, p = 0.048, p = 0.011 and p = 0.047, respectively). Only FEV1% and FEF25-75% were significantly lower in cigarette smokers with Maras powder use than in Maras powder users (n = 28) (p = 0.011 and p = 0.022, respectively). There was a negative correlation between forced vital capacity and Maras powder use (r = −0.315, p = 0.03). The present study suggests that Maras powder does not cause serious bronchial obstruction. This may be due to usage of the smokeless tobacco through buccal mucosa but not through inhalation as in case of cigarette smoking.
keywords —— Maras powder; cigarette; pulmonary function tests; smokeless tobacco
© 2004 Tohoku University Medical Press
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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2004, 204, 173-178
Address for reprints: Mehmet Akif Buyukbese, M.D., Assistant Prof., Department of Internal Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Faculty of Medicine, 46050, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
e-mail: akif_buyukbese@yahoo.com