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Snus is the new fashionable tobacco among the youngest. But like tobacco, it is not without risk. Consuming snus triples the risk of unexpected infant death, according to a Swedish study.
Snus is tobacco that comes in the form of a wet powder. To be consumed, it must be wrapped in a thin white sachet and then placed between the gum and the upper lip. Very fashionable among young people, snus is however not without danger to health, especially among pregnant women.
Unexpected infant death for 2 in 10,000 babies
Swedish researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, based in Stockholm decided to study the effects of snus in infants whose mothers took it. The Swedish team therefore conducted a registry study by examining the health data of more than 2 million babies born in Sweden between 1999 and 2019, exposed to tobacco in a general way. Among these births, 1% of the mothers took snus and 7% smoked. During this period, only two out of 10,000 babies suffered from unexpected infant death syndrome.
A 70% increase in the risk of infant death
The researchers indicate that the risk of death from all causes of infants whose mother consumes snus is increased by 70%. The risk of unexpected infant death, for its part, is multiplied by three. Snus is indeed suspected because for mothers who had stopped their consumption before the first prenatal visit, the risk was considerably reduced. For the researchers, nicotine in all its forms should therefore be avoided during pregnancy.
“Taking snus or smoking during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk”
According to pediatrician Anna Gunnerbeck, a researcher in the Department of Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, “unexpected infant death is a very rare phenomenon, but we can see that taking snus or smoking during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk“. According to her, “Given the dramatic increase in snus consumption among young women of childbearing age, women should be made aware of the potential risk to fetuses and infants”. And to conclude:Our study indicates that nicotine is a risk factor for unexpected infant death, so we conclude that all types of nicotine products should be avoided during pregnancy.“.