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Mr. Ge thinks that his living habits are quite good, for example, he usually does not smoke much, but he is sleepy in the process of work, and he usually chooses to chew betel nut.
He's a security guard who always gets sleepy at night, and secondly, he doesn't pose any risk, which he thinks is much better than smoking.
But just recently, Mr. Ge found that there seemed to be some problems with his mouth, first he found that he couldn't eat any spicy food, and his mouth could not be stimulated at all, otherwise there would be a stinging sensation.
Secondly, the frequency of ulcers in Mr. Ge's mouth became higher and higher, and even white spots appeared, Mr. Ge knew that there might be problems in his mouth, so he immediately began to receive treatment.
But what Mr. Ge didn't expect was that it was the betel nut he relied on that caused all this.
1. The Lancet Oncology study: arecaine is a class 2B carcinogen - possibly carcinogenic to humans
Although the refreshing effect of betel nut is very good, it also has a certain addiction, so the people who have the habit of chewing betel nut in China are about 60 million, especially people in Yunnan, Hainan and other places, and the dependence on betel nut is very high.
But do these people really not know that betel nut is harmful to the human body?
The Lancet Oncology has previously published a study in which they evaluated the carcinogenicity of arecaine, the main active ingredient in areca nut, and finally concluded that:
Arecine, which should be defined as a Group 2B carcinogen, is associated with a rapidly increased risk of cancer if ingested over time.
Researchers said that betel nut has actually been defined as a class of carcinogens by the World Health Organization for a long time, but it has not been clear what the carcinogenic components are.
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Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out whether arecine is the main carcinogen in betel nut.
Areca nut is a very complex mixture, and to determine the main carcinogen of birds, it requires careful analysis of the ingredients, and the researchers believe that betel nut examines the main active ingredient of betel nut, and is easily absorbed by the body, and is particularly easy to detect in saliva, blood and urine.
Therefore, this ingredient should also be considered as the highest priority.
So through analysis, the researchers found that in terms of composition, arecaine is also an alkaloid, in addition to acting on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, there are other receptors, and once he reacts with sodium nitrite, it will form a carcinogen, and has been found in the saliva of people who eat betel nut.
In addition, arecaine also has a certain genotoxicity, which may induce DNA strand breaks in the human body, resulting in DNA mutations and even chromosomal aberrations, which have become the most important evidence that arecaine, one of the most important carcinogens in areca nut.
Second, the carcinogenicity of betel nut is by no means alarmist, and these are also the hazards of betel nut
Long-term chewing of betel nut must be very harmful to the human body.
As early as 2003, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identified betel nut as a carcinogen, and in 2019, the Chinese National Health Commission issued an oral health action plan that clearly pointed out that chewing betel nut has become a habit and will cause great harm to oral health.
So, what dangers may be caused to the body by chewing betel nut for a long time?
1. Cause oral cancer, or fibrosis of the oral mucosa
The fragrance of betel nut is very rough, especially after making, the betel nut will generally become relatively hard, and in the process of chewing, the oral epithelial cell death rate will continue to accelerate, and the oral mucosa will also be damaged.
Once severe, it may lead to fibrous lesions under the oral mucosa, and in severe cases, it can lead to the appearance of oral cancer.
In addition, long-term chewing of betel nut will also cause certain damage to teeth and periodontal, betel nut will make tooth wear more serious, teeth will even appear black, early loss of teeth and other symptoms, that is to say, even if habitual chewing betel nut, it may not necessarily bring cancer, but it will definitely bring great harm to our oral health.
2. Affect the function of human body systems
As we have just mentioned, arecine contained in betel nut is one of the most important carcinogenic components in betel nut, and this component has a great damaging effect on the human liver and kidney system.
In addition, it also has a certain reproductive toxicity, and epidemiological studies have clearly indicated that it can have certain adverse effects on women's pregnancy.
This is mainly due to the fact that chemicals such as betel nut minus will react with nitrites secreted in the mouth after continuous chewing, and the substances produced are very carcinogenic.
In addition, once this substance enters the stomach, it will also react with gastric acid to form nitrosamines, which are also highly carcinogenic, so habitually eating betel nut may indeed cause great damage to the normal system of the human body.
3. It may lead to tongue cancer
In addition to plant alkalis, betel nut also contains a lot of polyphenols, nitrosamines, and phenolic substances, which will also bring certain harm to the oral cavity, because it will cause oxygen free radicals and make oral inflammation more serious.
At the same time, he will also change the permeability of the mucosa itself in the oral cavity, and quickly interact with the already inflamed cells, eventually leading to the formation of vitiligo, which may lead to the development of tongue cancer in severe cases.
3. The carcinogenesis caused by betel nut can be reversed, and quitting is the best way
In addition to cigarettes, alcohol and caffeine, betel nut is one of the most widely used addictive substances in the world, because of the effect of alkaloids, after chewing betel nut, the body will experience symptoms such as facial ruddyness, body heat, and slight sweating.
The reason why many people rely more on betel nut is because after a betel nut is chewed, it can make people feel "initiated" within 5 minutes, and this effect can even last for two to three hours.
However, it should be noted that previous studies of neuromolecular imaging have shown that betel nut chewing produces dependent emotions, mainly due to dysfunction of the emotional, cognitive and reward systems, and even many people who regularly chew betel nut will find that once they stop this behavior, the body will produce a withdrawal reaction.
In this case, not only will you have general fatigue and difficulty concentrating, but you will also have memory problems and even anxiety.
Therefore, after chewing betel nut for a long time, it is not possible to quit if you want to quit, and many times you even need professional assistance, and in response to the matter of quitting betel nut, doctors and experts also said that when the oral mucosa has become fibrous, you must quit betel nut.
Because this is the window period for precancerous lesions, quitting in time can reduce the risk of cancer.
Studies have long confirmed that betel nut chewing is one of the most important factors leading to oral submucosal fibrosis, and if you continue to chew betel nut after symptoms have appeared, the cancer rate can even increase to more than 200 times, and the higher the frequency of chewing betel nut every day, the greater the probability of oral cancer.
Therefore, when people who chew betel nut find that their mouth has a burning sensation, and even it becomes difficult to eat and speak, they should clearly understand that they have oral lesions, and continue to chew betel nut at this time will only increase the cancer rate to an unimaginable level.
Even if you quit betel nut, receiving professional treatment from a doctor is the most important way to reduce the disease, and researchers have confirmed that the sooner you quit betel nut, the sooner you receive treatment, the lower the chance of cancer. #万能生活指南#
Bibliography:
[1] Li Yanming. Prevention and treatment of oral cancer need to quit betel nut[J].Rural Baishitong,2013,(17):67-68.DOI:10.19433/j.cnki.1006-9119.2013.17.044.
[2] [1] Luo Xuehong. It is no coincidence that betel nut chewing causes tongue cancer[J].Family Medicine,2014,(04):39.)
[3] Gao Yanjing. Family Chinese Medicine,2021,28(11):63-65.