I received an email from a colleague with a link to an online magazine piece about re: evidence on the dangers of smokeless tobacco (ST). When I read the brief article I felt the need to see the actual published study. This is because one of the things said in the ScienceDaily press release was that the tobacco was commonly used in other parts of the world. I had to ask myself, “What does this scientific finding mean to us – the USA?” I expected that I would find that the tobacco analyzed, which did cause some cellular changes that could lead to cancer, was NOT a product used in this country. That has happened before, both with good and bad outcomes, and it is important as a health educator that I know what I am talking about- yes?
I was able to access the journal article in Chemical Research in Toxicology.
Well of course I was blown away by the technical nature of the study and it was somewhat (ok very much so) over my head. Very basically an enzyme abbreviated as CYP and its protein subtypes will break down (in phases) the cancer causing agents in tobacco and other products. Often in tobacco we are referring to tobacco specific nitrosamines or TSNAs. In this instance the metabolism of the TSNAs or the breakdown of them by the enzymes can affect the cells in such a way as to change DNA. When DNA is changed, cells can mutate and become cancerous. This study showed that there are several organ systems affected by this toxic metabolism and thus smokeless tobacco could lead to several types of cancer. This is not a study to say that ST causes cancer, only that the processes that were seen are the same that in other situations have created a cancerous condition.
Still, the type of tobacco used in the region of study, Southeast Asia and India, is not the common tobacco used in the USA or even Western Europe. The researchers studied the effects of the tobacco metabolites from a certain blend called gutkha which according to Wikipedia and other sources is a mixture of tobacco and crushed betel nut, catechu, lime and other flavorings. What is catechu you might ask? It is some type of palm plant that grows in India and similar areas.
The ScienceDaily article did not at all note the type of tobacco or more exactly, tobacco juice (tobacco mixed with saliva), that was studied. This gutkha is not Copenhagen, Skoal or Redman and it is known to be worse than the Swedish brand of snus – so the article is good and as someone concerned with global health it is relevant, but as a US tobacco educator I would be wise to make the distinction of which tobacco causes which harm in my presentations as the one thing I want to be sure of is that I, unlike Big Tobacco, tell the truth!
2 comments:
Smokeless tobacco is sometimes known as chewing tobacco or spitting tobacco. It is available in two forms, snuff and chewing tobacco. Both types of smokeless tobacco are held in the mouth inside the cheek or between the cheek and gum.
Long-term studies have shown that substantial reduction in smoking and lung cancer in Sweden Swedish such as an alternative to cigarettes through. Snuff has proven more effective, the replacement of the more than cigarette nicotine gum or patches because nicotine in snuff tobacco gives a very similar explosion.
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