Smokeless Tobacco

There are a lot of terms to describe smokeless tobacco products, for instance, oral, chewing, snuff, spit, and spit-less tobacco.
All forms of oral tobacco have chemicals known to cause cancer (carcinogens). These products can cause cancer of the mouth, pancreas, and esophagus (the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach). Oral and smokeless tobacco also cause many other health problems, such as gum disease, destruction of the bone sockets around the teeth, and tooth loss. They cause bad breath and stained teeth, too.

Smokeless Tobacco

Smokeless tobacco is consumed in the following ways:

• Chewed: gutkha, pan, mawa, mainpuri tobacco, khaini, click, etc
• Applied on gums, and teeth: mishri, gudhaku, bajjar, tooth paste
• Inhaled: snuff
• Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking. Smokeless does not mean harmless.
• Chewing tobacco is far greater health hazard than filtered cigarettes as the concentration of tobacco is significantly higher.
• Studies have shown that pan masala causes a condition called oral submucous fibrosis that makes it 400 times more likely for a person to develop cancer than normal people. This is true even if the pan masala does not contain tobacco.

Chewing Tobacco In India.

The use of chewing tobacco is reaching at dangerously endemic levels in India. Students, professionals, taxi drivers, young and old - all take it. A recent survey identified the use of this bad habit by nearly 70% of college students in several Indian cities. It's often called locally as "Gutka". This smokeless tobacco is so popular that highly qualified professionals like doctors also use it. The unhealthy habit often immigrates with the person to other areas of the planet. Young Asians in the UK often consume it. Gutka's main ingredients are betel nuts mixed with areca nut, slaked lime, cashew and tobacco in granulated form. This mixture collectively known as pan masala is also added to betel leaves (known as Paan) may be harmless without the tobacco. The idea is to chew and later spit out or swallowed. There could be several reasons for their use. Mostly due to its smoke free use and can be well hidden inside the mouth. The misconception is that it therefore does not create nuisances for others. Although tobacco promotion is officially banned in India, it is well targeted through the use of advertisements of brand name non-tobacco products. Its small, striking and low-cost sachets appeals to many young people.

What Are The Risks Of Using Smokeless Tobacco?

Smokeless tobacco products are not a safe substitute for tobacco smoking.
Harmful health effects include:

•  Mouth, tongue, and throat cancer
•  Cancer in the esophagus (the swallowing tube that goes from your mouth to your stomach)
•  Stomach cancer
•  Pancreatic cancer
•  Increased risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke
•  Addiction to nicotine
•  Leukoplakia (white sores in the mouth that can become cancer)
•  Receding gums (gums slowly shrink from around the teeth)
•  Bone loss around the roots of the teeth
•  Abrasion (scratching and wearing down) of teeth
•  Tooth loss
•  Stained teeth
•  Bad breath