Smokeless tobacco use high in city, finds survey

  • | Thursday | 15th November, 2018

“It is after doctors checked their mouths that they came to know that they are addicted to tobacco,” Mehrotra said.Researchers at NICPR say among women, maids, labourers and sweepers formed the biggest chunk of tobacco users with two out of every three consuming some sort of tobacco. Among women, gutkha (21.2%) was most commonly used followed by lal manjan (20.4%) and khaini (18.5%).Talking about the menace of smokeless tobacco products, Mehrotra said that many of these patients report general problems like loss of appetite, loss of weight and don’t disclose they are addicted to tobacco. Among men, khaini usage topped the list at 42.1%. Gutkha came a close second at 40.8%. “At least three patients were diagnosed with oral cancer and they were referred for higher centres for treatment,” Mehrotra said.The number of those who chew gutkha (29.2%) was the highest among all patients surveyed followed by those addicted to khaini (28.1%), bidi smokers (21.9%) and lal manjan (13.4%).

Noida: Gutkha and khaini are the most used smokeless tobacco products among both men and women in the city, a study conducted over 6,538 patients who visited the clinic on the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR) campus has found.Dr Ravi Mehrotra, director OF NICPR, told TOI, 15% of the patients — studied between mid-2016 and mid-2017 — were found to be having pre-cancerous lesions. “At least three patients were diagnosed with oral cancer and they were referred for higher centres for treatment,” Mehrotra said.The number of those who chew gutkha (29.2%) was the highest among all patients surveyed followed by those addicted to khaini (28.1%), bidi smokers (21.9%) and lal manjan (13.4%). Among men, khaini usage topped the list at 42.1%. Gutkha came a close second at 40.8%. Among women, gutkha (21.2%) was most commonly used followed by lal manjan (20.4%) and khaini (18.5%).Talking about the menace of smokeless tobacco products, Mehrotra said that many of these patients report general problems like loss of appetite, loss of weight and don’t disclose they are addicted to tobacco. “It is after doctors checked their mouths that they came to know that they are addicted to tobacco,” Mehrotra said.Researchers at NICPR say among women, maids, labourers and sweepers formed the biggest chunk of tobacco users with two out of every three consuming some sort of tobacco. Some of them do so to not get hungry while they are working, the researchers say.In a workshop conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday, researchers expressed concern over how cancer of the lip and oral cavity was the second most common cancer in India whose prevalence has gone up by 114% between 2012 and 2018.Experts said while there was focus on smoking tobacco, smokeless tobacco is a major reason behind cancer of the lip and oral cavities and suggested increase in tertiary care centres across the country for early detection of cancer.

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