{"id":6439,"date":"2022-07-06T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T09:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=6439"},"modified":"2022-12-21T15:25:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T14:25:49","slug":"lars-rutqvist-the-oncologist-who-wants-smokers-to-switch-to-swedish-snus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/lars-rutqvist-the-oncologist-who-wants-smokers-to-switch-to-swedish-snus\/","title":{"rendered":"Lars Rutqvist: the oncologist who wants smokers to switch to Swedish snus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the 1980s, it was controversial to claim that snus is less harmful than smoking cigarettes, especially if you were an oncologist. But Lars Rutqvist simply wanted to let the research speak for itself. And it has. In this instalment of Snusforumet’s Harm Reduction Heroes series, meet the researcher who helped make sure the world understood the potential of Swedish snus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate in Sweden surrounding snus has shifted dramatically over the years. Today’s more nuanced understanding comes following dozens of studies published in recent decades looking specifically at the health effects of Swedish snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the road has been long and winding, not least for Lars Rutqvist, who has been on the front lines and played an important role in shattering many stereotypes about tobacco, nicotine, and public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen something changes so slowly, it can be difficult to see that anything\u2019s changed from one month or year to the next. But when looking back with a few years of perspective, the change can be significant,\u201d says Lars Rutqvist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific work has been a recurring theme in his long career in cancer care and research. Among other positions, he served as an oncologist and chief physician at Huddinge University Hospital south of the Swedish capital and later at the prestigious Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening to science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

More than 150 research reports bearing his name have been published in international scientific journals. A study published in 1998, “Smoking tobacco, oral snuff and alcohol in the etiology of carcinoma of the head and neck<\/a>” is one of the world’s largest epidemiological studies of risk factors for cancer in the ear, nose, and throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results showed an increased risk of cancer when smoking, especially in combination with alcohol – but no increased cancer risk when using Swedish snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the results of this study came out, I realized that they were extremely important for the prevention of smoking-related diseases,\u201d says Rutqvist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf smokers could switch to a product that doesn\u2019t have all the adverse effects of cigarette smoking, there could be a substantial public health benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over four decades, Rutqvist has been driven by one goal: that fewer people should die of cancer. And sometimes he has thus been forced to act as the voice of reason to combat “the established truths” in the debate about snus and tobacco products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a researcher, I believe in science and my hope is that people will listen more to science than ideology,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSweden is a living example of what can be achieved when it comes to public health by switching from cigarettes with snus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Unfounded debate accelerates research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It all started in the late 1980s when Rutqvist realized there was a lack of research-based arguments in the debate about tobacco in Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when there were few scientific studies on health risks with Swedish snus, the debate was marked by fears of an increased risk of cancer and other diseases. No distinction was made between snus from cigarettes, nor did people understand that nicotine itself wasn\u2019t carcinogenic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rutqvist’s contribution to the discussion \u2013 that there were no scientific studies that confirm people\u2019s fears \u2013 created an uproar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany took it for granted that the nicotine in tobacco was the major health hazard. But it\u2019s been shown that nicotine is in many respects comparable to the caffeine found in coffee,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s addictive, but relatively harmless from a health perspective, although some groups such as pregnant women should not consume nicotine or caffeine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the debate grew more heated, research gained momentum. Many independent epidemiological studies were initiated at Swedish universities<\/a> with the aim of clarifying the health effects of Swedish snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lars Rutqvist: The \u2018established truth\u2019 was false<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Results from the early studies set in motion what Rutqvist calls “the confrontational 1990s”. The first to become available examined the risk of oral cancer. Results showed \u2013 unexpectedly \u2013 that the risk among snus users was the same as among non-tobacco users<\/a>. Since then several, independent studies have confirmed these early findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As more research emerged demonstrating snus\u2019s low risks compared to cigarettes, the international anti-tobacco movement became increasingly radicalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFighting the big, multinational cigarette companies became the main focus, and Swedish Match \u2013 Sweden\u2019s largest manufacturer of snus – became \u2018guilty by association\u2019,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAgainst this background, it was a good thing that the Swedish research on health effects of snus was conducted by independent, university-affiliated research groups, without financial support from the tobacco industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATCH: Lars Rutqvist and the evolving debate about snus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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