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While smokers inhale a cocktail of heart and lung-damaging tar and smoke,
they could protect themselves from some of its effects by taking in an automatic
dose of folic acid, suggests Richard Kendall of Leeds. He is patenting a
cigarette in which the vitamin is added to those parts of a filter tip which
come into contact with saliva from the smoker’s lips or tongue (GB 2 332 359).
Vitamins B₁₂ and C can also be added to the tip. The patent cites
medical studies suggesting that smokers may benefit disproportionately from
folic acid—perhaps better known for reducing a baby’s risk of being born
with spina bifida.