The medical profession has long suspected that chewing betel nut often causes mouth ulcers, gingival degeneration, submucosal fibrosis, which leads to oral cancer. Medical research has found that chewing betel nut increases the risk of oral cancer by 8.4-9.9 times. check here And arecoline has potential carcinogenicity, betel nut flowers and vines contain carcinogens, and the United States and Japan have used betel nut extracts for experiments, which have been found to cause murine carcinogenesis.
In Hunan, betel nut is like a social means. When relatives and friends meet, they will often hand each other a betel nut like a cigarette. Even for making the children happy, they also feed them. This “food” is quietly hurting at least 60 million Chinese. In the past decade, the incidence of oral cancer in China has increased by 20 times. In fact, betel nut has only a “sentimental” effect during chewing. But the harms of chewing betel nut are numerous. The data before us is that in all the countries and regions where the betel nut is eaten in the world, betel nut has become the chief culprit of oral cancer. In India, the largest consumer of betel nut, the incidence of oral cancer is the highest in the world. Papua New Guinea is an island nation with a population of less than 7 million. 60% of residents chew betel nut, and the incidence of oral cancer is as high as 2.0%. More than 25,000 people die each year from oral cancer.check here
In Taiwan, the National Health Administration advocates that people do not eat betel nuts. Canada is completely banned from selling betel nuts. The United States prohibits states from transporting betel nuts. Indian law requires betel nut products to be labeled with obvious warning labels. Only in Myanmar, the local “betel nut” will be packaged in this leaf for sale, and the street can be seen everywhere. Another big betel nut consumer is China. check here After the betel nut was recognized by the World Health Organization as a “soft drug,” betel nut was not restricted in China, but was promoted by the betel nut giant, creating a 100 billion-dollar industry.
The damage of betel nut for us are various, such as:
- It is bad for our teeth: Our teeth will experience a big abrasion if we chewing betel nut for a long time. And betel nut juice is mixed with lime, which is easy to form calculus, which not only affects the appearance but also affects periodontal health. The betel nut fiber is rough and may also stab the gums or block the teeth, causing inflammation of the gums.
- Bad to the oral mucosa: light may cause mucosal lesions, and even evolve into oral cancer. check here
- The impact on digestive system: Some components of betel nut will damage the taste nerve and saliva secretion, affecting the digestive function. In addition, betel nut residue also stimulates the stomach wall, which can cause inflammation or even perforation of the gastric mucosa.