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."
---"Do you have Alzheimer's? I've heard nicotine is being used as a successful treatment for the early stages...
"-----
Smoking Speeds Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease
Smokers Decline Up to Five Times Faster Than Nonsmokers
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Monday, March 22, 2004
March 22, 2004 -- Smokers have faster mental decline in elderly years -- up to fivefold faster, a new study shows.
Only a few studies have looked at this link between smoking and mental function in elderly people who don't have dementia or Alzheimer's disease. In recent studies, researchers have found a significantly increased risk of both dementia and Alzheimer's disease among smokers.
Smoking likely puts into effect a vicious cycle of artery damage, clotting, and increased risk of stroke causing mental decline, writes researcher A. Ott, MD, a medical microbiologist with Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Ott's study appears in this week's issue of the journal Neurology.
The study involves 9,200 men and women over age 65, who were interviewed in their homes about their health and lifestyle, and who took tests measuring their mental function -- these tests are standard measurement used to detect mental impairment in the elderly. They re-took the tests two years later.
I didn't judge. I was asked what my criteria was for life choices.
Saying that smoking is bad for your health is now fascism?
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.
128 posted on 06/02/2004 10:37:02 AM PDT by Liberal Classic
343 posted on 06/02/2004 2:16:39 PM PDT by cinFLA [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 333 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
I never made this statement, I simply asked a question (which you did not answer) and it is intellectually dishonest to turn that question into a statement of my position.
The point is simple, the fact that this subject touches or affects vets does not move authority on the subject to vets. They are simply a part of the discussion, no more, no less than anyone else who has a stake in this country.
That's the problem when you lift from posts with going back to the original.
Since you are not my spiritual authority, I reject anything you have to say on the subject of my spiritual welfare.
to entire post, not part.
That cannot be a universal statement of position though. Veterans, by virtue of being veterans, do not get the last word of issues that involve or do not involve veterans.
Kerry does not get special position in the debate of ideas simply because he is a vet. Period.
It's a problem for YOU, maybe. Work on that Alzheimer's, will ya? and see my post just above.
Incidently, anyone who wants to can google Alzheimer's Nicotine research, and learn about some promising studies.
Right. He implied that I had compared smoking with getting shot at. That was his way of twisting my post which made no comparison to smoking and getting shot at. Go back a few posts and see that he was responding to my statement that free cigarettes to soldiers led to many of the smoking related veteran problems.
My opinions are on my private property therefore they are my business.
Surely you're being deliberately dense.
Those italicized words in your post are not mine but I have posted similar.
I didn't think he twisted your post. I think you're the one twisting posts, here.
And I happen to agree with that one.
Suit yourself. They were simple questions. If they somehow offend you, maybe its the spirit knocking.
And you call me dense.
Smoking Does Not Protect the Brain Against Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease
For more about the effects of smoking on health, please visit our Forum on Smoking. And for further information about dementia and Alzheimer's disease, please see our Forums on Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.
-- Editor, MedicineNet.com
I did not say they were yours.
I was posting the part of MY POST you left out.
You have too many discussions going on and are not keeping up, it is not fair to keep posting to you with three or four others. I'll leave you alone.
Posted on Fri, May. 28, 2004
List of smoking diseases grows
Surgeon general reports new maladies found to be related to tobacco habits
By Nancy Zuckerbrod
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The list of diseases linked to smoking grew longer Thursday.
Add acute myeloid leukemia, cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach, abdominal aortic aneurysms, cataracts, periodontitis and pneumonia.
``We've known for decades that smoking is bad for your health, but this report shows that it's even worse,'' said Surgeon General Richard Carmona, announcing his first official assessment of the effects of tobacco.
The report said evidence is not conclusive enough to say smoking causes colorectal cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction. Some research has associated those diseases with smoking; Carmona said more proof is needed.
The evidence suggests smoking may not cause breast cancer in women but that some women, depending on genetics, may increase their risk of getting it by smoking, the report said.
Diseases previously linked to smoking include cancer of the bladder, esophagus, larynx, lung and mouth. Also tied to smoking was chronic lung disease, chronic heart and cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, peptic ulcers and reproductive problems.
About 440,000 Americans die of smoking-related diseases each year. The report said more than 12 million people have died from smoking-related diseases in the 40 years since the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health was released in 1964.
That report linked smoking to lung and larynx cancer and chronic bronchitis. Subsequent reports, such as the one released Thursday, have expanded the list of diseases linked to smoking.
Carmona's report said treating smoking-related diseases costs the nation $75 billion annually. The loss of productivity from smoking is estimated to be $82 billion annually.
On average, the surgeon general said, smokers die 13 to 14 years before nonsmokers.
The number of adults who smoke has dropped from about 42 percent in 1965 to about 22 percent in 2002, the last year for which such data is available, according to the surgeon general.
The government has set a goal of 12 percent by 2010, but is having trouble getting the rate to come down as quickly as sought. The smoking rate is declining by less than one-half of a percentage point annually.
This is a common tactic of cinFLA's.
Post enough comments on a thread to turn it into a virtual vomitorium and then exhort other posters to wade through the ocean of incoherence and try to find which particular rant is being referred to.
Listing other posters' posting times is also a favorite of his, when full-blown psychosis takes over.
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