HEALTH NEWS
Today's headlines » Wednesday, 02 June 2004
Smoking turns saliva into 'cancer cocktail'
Smoking converts healthy saliva into a deadly chemical cocktail that increases the risk of mouth cancer, according to research published today.
Normally saliva is the body's first line of defence against disease, providing a protective buffer between toxins and the lining of the mouth.
However, chemicals in tobacco smoke combine with saliva with devastating results, scientists have found.
Dr Rafi Nagler, of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, who led the study published in the British Journal of Cancer, said: "Most people will find it very shocking that the mixture of saliva and smoke is actually more lethal to cells in the mouth than cigarette smoke alone.
"Our study shows that once exposed to cigarette smoke, our normally healthy saliva not only loses its beneficial qualities, but it turns traitor and actually aids in destroying cells of the mouth and oral cavity. Cigarette smoke is not only damaging on its own, it can turn the body against itself."
There are nearly 8,000 new cases of mouth cancer each year in Britain and 3,000 deaths. The disease is usually caused by smoking or drinking alcohol. The study recreated effects of tobacco smoke in the laboratory using samples of cells and saliva.
It found that smoke destroys protective anti-oxidant compounds in saliva, leaving a corrosive mix that damages cells and increases the risk of mouth cancer.
The longer that mouth cells were exposed to saliva contaminated with tobacco smoke, the more the cells were damaged.
Copyright © 2004 The Daily Telegraph. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/news/index.asp?y=2004&m=6&d=2&id=112010
You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe.
-- Carl Sagan (source unknown)
Ayn Rand said in "The Fountainhead": "We live in our minds, and existence is the attempt to bring that life into physical reality, to state it in gesture and form."
Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.
-- Friedrich von Schiller :grumpy:
Today's headlines » Wednesday, 02 June 2004
Smoking turns saliva into 'cancer cocktail'
Smoking converts healthy saliva into a deadly chemical cocktail that increases the risk of mouth cancer, according to research published today.
Normally saliva is the body's first line of defence against disease, providing a protective buffer between toxins and the lining of the mouth.
However, chemicals in tobacco smoke combine with saliva with devastating results, scientists have found.
Dr Rafi Nagler, of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, who led the study published in the British Journal of Cancer, said: "Most people will find it very shocking that the mixture of saliva and smoke is actually more lethal to cells in the mouth than cigarette smoke alone.
"Our study shows that once exposed to cigarette smoke, our normally healthy saliva not only loses its beneficial qualities, but it turns traitor and actually aids in destroying cells of the mouth and oral cavity. Cigarette smoke is not only damaging on its own, it can turn the body against itself."
There are nearly 8,000 new cases of mouth cancer each year in Britain and 3,000 deaths. The disease is usually caused by smoking or drinking alcohol. The study recreated effects of tobacco smoke in the laboratory using samples of cells and saliva.
It found that smoke destroys protective anti-oxidant compounds in saliva, leaving a corrosive mix that damages cells and increases the risk of mouth cancer.
The longer that mouth cells were exposed to saliva contaminated with tobacco smoke, the more the cells were damaged.
Copyright © 2004 The Daily Telegraph. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/news/index.asp?y=2004&m=6&d=2&id=112010
You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe.
-- Carl Sagan (source unknown)
Ayn Rand said in "The Fountainhead": "We live in our minds, and existence is the attempt to bring that life into physical reality, to state it in gesture and form."
Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.
-- Friedrich von Schiller :grumpy:
