Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

New study reveals positive long-term impact of switching from cigarettes to glo

New study reveals positive long-term impact of switching from cigarettes to glo
glo devices being tested in laboratories at BAT's global R&D centre in Southampton, UK

Smokers switching exclusively to glo, BAT’s flagship tobacco heating product, achieved significant and sustained improvements in several indicators of potential harm associated with early disease development compared to smokers who continued to smoke, a new study showed.

This included lung disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD).


The full results of the year-long study, published in Internal and Emergency Medicine, build upon the favourable changes reported at three and six-months. The improvements observed were sustained over the 12 months of the study, adding to the weight of evidence that supports glo as a less risky alternative for adult smokers who would not otherwise quit, the study states.

“The results from this study are the most important data we have ever generated about glo and for the THP category in general. This real-world study allows us to assess the changes that adult smokers switching exclusively to glo experience, by assessing early indicators of potential harm associated with disease development,” Dr David O’Reilly, Director, Scientific Research at BAT, said.

“It provides much needed new evidence about the size of the change and durability of the effect switching completely to glo can have, and reinforces glo’s potential as a reduced-risk product.”

The study was designed to explore the risk reduction potential of glo when used in a real-world setting rather than in a clinical setting. Based on the early indicators of disease measured, smokers who switched completely to glo instead of continuing to smoke showed:

  • Significant and sustained reduction in a biomarker with the potential to cause DNA damage associated with lung cancer
  • Significant and sustained reduction in white blood cell count, an inflammatory marker associated with early development of CVD and other smoking-related diseases
  • Sustained improvement in HDL cholesterol associated with reduced development of CVD
  • Significant and sustained improvement in an indicator of lung health (FeNO)
  • Significant and sustained improvement in a key indicator of oxidative stress, a process implicated in several smoking-related diseases, such as CVD

Participants in this year-long randomised controlled study were UK-based smokers aged 23 to 55 in good general health. The smokers who did not intend to quit were randomised to either continue smoking cigarettes or switched to using only glo, while smokers who indicated they wanted to stop smoking were offered nicotine replacement therapy and access to a cessation counsellor.

A group of ‘never smokers’ was also included to act as a control group and continued not to use any tobacco or nicotine products.

More for you

A woman enters the Selfridges department store

A woman enters the Selfridges department store on December 13, 2024 in London, England

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail faces mixed fortunes in 2025 amid cost pressures, AI opportunities, and high street revival


The UK retail sector is bracing for a challenging but opportunity-filled 2025, according to Jacqui Baker, head of retail at RSM UK. While the industry grapples with rising costs and heightened crime, advancements in artificial intelligence and a revival of the high street offer potential pathways to growth, she said.

Keep ReadingShow less
unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Photo: Southend-on-Sea City Council

1,100 unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend safety crackdown

Southend-on-Sea City Council officials have secured food condemnation orders from Chelmsford Magistrates Court, resulting in the seizure and destruction of 1,100 unauthorised soft drinks.

The condemned drinks, including Mountain Dew, 7-UP, Mirinda, and G Fuel energy drinks, were found during routine inspections of food businesses across Southend by the council’s environmental health officers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London

A customer browses clothes inside Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London on, December 17, 2024

Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Brits kindle Christmas spirit with second-hand gifts

Bursting with customers one afternoon the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London's Marylebone High Street looked even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it.

One man grabbed two puzzle sets and a giant plush toy as a present for friends, another picked out a notebook for his wife.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Lancashire Mind’s 11th Mental Elf fun run was its biggest and best yet – a sell-out event with more than 400 people running and walking in aid of the mental charity, plus dozens more volunteering to make the day a huge success.

The winter sun shone on Worden Park in Leyland as families gathered for either a 5K course, a 2K run, or a Challenge Yours’Elf distance which saw many people running 10K with the usual running gear replaced with jazzy elf leggings, tinsel and Christmas hats.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale, on December 13, 2024 in London, England.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail sales disappoint before Christmas

UK retail sales rose less than expected in the runup to Christmas, according to official data Friday that deals a fresh blow to government hopes of growing the economy.

Separate figures revealed a temporary reprieve for prime minister Keir Starmer, however, as public borrowing fell sharply in November.

Keep ReadingShow less