Posted on 06/02/2004 4:43:14 AM PDT by Colosis
LONDON (Reuters) - Smoking destroys protective molecules in saliva and transforms it into a dangerous cocktail of chemicals that increases the risk of mouth cancer, scientists say.
"Cigarette smoke is not only damaging on its own, it can turn the body against itself," said Dr Rafi Nagler, of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.
Saliva contains antioxidants, molecules that normally protect the body against cancer, but Nagler and his colleagues have discovered that cigarette smoke destroys the molecules and turns saliva into a dangerous compound.
"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 the cells of the mouth and oral cavity," he added.
In research reported in the British Journal of Cancer on Wednesday, Nagler and his team studied the impact of cigarette smoke on cancerous cells in the laboratory.
Half of the cells were exposed to saliva exposed to cigarette smoke and the other half just to the smoke. Cells exposed to the saliva mixture had more damage and it increased along with the time of exposure.
"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," Nagler added in a statement.
Smoking and drinking are the leading causes of head and neck or oral cancers, which includes cancer of the lip, mouth, tongue, gums, larynx and pharynx. Nearly 400,000 new cases of the illness are diagnosed worldwide each year with the majority in developing countries. The five-year survival rates are less than 50 percent.
Nagler and his colleagues believe the research could open up new avenues to develop better treatments to prevent oral cancer.
"This insight into how mouth cancer can develop offers more reasons for smokers to try and quit," said Jean King, of Cancer Research UK, which publishes the journal. "People know the link with lung cancer and this research adds compelling evidence about the damage smoking can do to the mouth."
I guess only the smoking veterans were exposed to the gunpowder and the non-smoking veterans were not. hmmm
Now your the one making claims without the data to back up the claims. Yes, I checked your link and it's filled with claims, but no data!
No, it's the fault of burning many tobacco leaves every day over the course of years.
"I guess only the smoking veterans were exposed to the gunpowder and the non-smoking veterans were not. hmmm"
Are you now trying to tell us that only smokers get emphysema? The original claim was that most cases of emphysema were smokers, I responded that most cases of emphysema were also veterans. Both are baseless, much like your logic.
The "list of smoking related illnesses" is HUGE--have you noticed? Including cervical cancer...can you explain that? How is cervical cancer caused by smoking? Especially when the primary cause of most cases of cervical cancer is a venereal wart?
Lots of illnesses that have nothing to do with smoking are tossed arbitrarily into the smoking related illness pot, did you notice that?
She's my governor, and no none of these nannystaters bothered to go on that thread. I would suspect it had to do with them not wanting to admit their agenda matches a Dem Canadian!
No. It has been shown that smokers have higher occurrences of those diseases.
Good grief, man. Compared with being shot, smoking is a candy-assed risk. Why don't you hoof it down to the local VFW and start your campaign there to get veterans to quit smoking. I'll sure they'll welcome you with open arms. While you're on the way there, think about the sacrifices these and other men made so that you and I would have the right to lead our lives as we see fit.
That's exactly MY conclusion. It's clear to me.
Provide the proof of your baseless claim!
If anyone you know has any mouth sores similar to these please have them checked immediately.
No other lethal disease is easier to cure when its size is less than 1 cm in diameter than oral cancer."
Can you go ahead and name those diseases? Hmmmm?
And because smokers MAY have higher rates of those diseases (do you really trust statistics?) that proves smoking caused it?
That's the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. I'm assuming you're familiar with fallacies, but of course, I could be mistaken.
Cheap shots but you fired blanks.
I have mine.
I was referring to those you noted as not being smoking related.
I shudder to think of the dangers of "second hand saliva"!!!
So, you actively fought tyranny so that you can take on a tyrannical attitude here? Did you forget the oath you took?
BTW, a Naval Vietnam Service Medal.......I heard even JFnK has one of those and he wasn't all that committed to freedom either.
I'll live with the malodorous in preference to the whiff of fascism you seem to want.
Fired across the your bow, cinFLA. Now that I have your attention so many people who seem eagar to speak about veterans issues but they also seems to have veiled agendas. I'm not saying that smoking is a good thing, but whether it is healthful or not isn't the issue. The issue is our rights as free people, the same rights you and I signed on the dotted line and raised our right hands to protect from enemies foreign and domestic. Among those rights is property rights, and the property rights issue is at the forefront of anti-smoking ordinances.
I only referred to ONE disease, cervical cancer. You have failed to show that it was smoking related, or provide any links which PROVE it, other than a statistical relationship, which is tenuous and non-scientific.
If all you have are statistics, your conclusions are suspect, non-scientific, and arbitrary.
Now, how about that governor who wants to raise taxes on cigarettes and liquor to help the schools? What do you say to her? Shouldn't she just work to ban smoking? After all, one or the other is for the children, she's just not sure that she wants people to quit, is she?
So now you are putting all Vietnam veterans in the JFK camp. Sick.
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