Recently, a message spread on the Internet that [betel nut has been listed as a first-class carcinogen by WHO] and several photos of oral cancer patients have been uploaded, which has brought great shock to people. Is this true?
Areca nut is a kind of food
Areca nut, also known as [Bingmen] [Renpin] [Renlang] [Ximiandan] [Luoguo], belongs to the evergreen tree of Palm family together with coconut tree. The name of areca nut comes from Malay [Pinang] and is mainly distributed in tropical regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa and Oceania.
The edible part of betel nut is the seed of betel nut, namely Areca nut. This is a traditional food with a long history and is mainly popular in China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. It has been deeply embedded in Asian region, especially in Chinese traditional culture.
Chinese ancestors had the habit of eating betel nut very early. Because betel nut contains arecoline, it is a substance that can excite nerves. After eating betel nut, one will flush and feel like drunk. Su Shi (1037 ~ 1101), the great literary giant, has a good saying in < < titled Jiang Xiulang several rooms > >: [Dark musk deer bears jasmine hairpin, red tide rises on the cheek drunk betel nut.]
As a matter of fact, betel nut was recorded in detail in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was thousands of years earlier than Su Shi’s time.
Betel nut or medicine?
Tao Hongjing (456 ~ 536), a traditional Chinese medicine doctor in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, believed in < < Bielu of Famous Doctors > > that betel nut can [eliminate valley and water, remove phlegm addiction, kill three insects, subdue corpses and cure inch white].
Li Shizhen (1519 ~ 1593) of the Ming Dynasty wrote in Compendium of Materia Medica: [(Areca catechu) is bitter, pungent, warm, astringent and non-toxic], and its main medicinal values are:
1. It can be taken after being pounded into powder, [Lishui Valley Road], which can treat [abdominal distension];
2. Apply sore, promote granulation and relieve pain;
3. Burn to ashes and apply white sores to the muzzle.
In the view of traditional Chinese medicine, the magical food betel nut [non-toxic] is even more magical medicine.
Until now, there are still many people who have the habit of chewing betel nut. Many people have long regarded betel nut as a safe food or magical medicine. In some traditional Chinese medicine [health] websites, there are dozens of betel nut-related prescriptions and health dietotherapy.
Modern medicine confirms betel nut carcinogenesis!
But in 2003, the situation changed.
Contrary to the traditional Chinese medicine that uses betel nut to treat [white sores in the muzzle], modern medicine believes that betel nut cannot treat [white sores in the muzzle], but induces malignant diseases of [muzzle], that is, oral cancer.
According to years of research, the International Cancer Research Institute under the World Health Organization listed betel nut as Category 1 carcinogen in Volume 85 of the 2003 Special Publication, which is the same level as tobacco.
Therefore, it is not nonsense to say at the beginning of this article that betel nut is the first carcinogen.
Is what a Category 1 carcinogen?
It is the substances, mixtures and contact occasions that have confirmed carcinogenicity to human beings. The carcinogenic mechanism of such carcinogenic factors is clear.
Statistics show that there are 390,000 oral cancer patients in the world every year, of which 228,000 (58%) occur in South and Southeast Asia, which have the habit of chewing betel nuts.
Why does betel nut cause cancer, especially oral cancer?
Scientists believe that the main reason is [arecoline] in areca nut and oral mucosal damage in chewing, which leads to [oral submucosal fibrosis] under long-term comprehensive action. [oral submucosal fibrosis] is a precancerous disease with a 2.3% ~ 7.6% possibility of turning into oral cancer.
In fact, as early as 1985, the World Health Organization listed the mixture of betel nut and tobacco as carcinogens. In many parts of the world, especially in South Asia, betel nut products are often mixed with tobacco ingredients, which is the cause of oral cancer, esophageal cancer and throat cancer.
Is betel nut food not mixed with tobacco safe?
It’s not safe!
In some areas of our country (such as Taiwan), betel nut food is not mixed with tobacco. Many people mistakenly think that it is safe. All ages, men and women have the habit of eating betel nut.
Continuous in-depth research has overturned people’s traditional views. One study found that in Taiwan, people who eat betel nuts are 58.4 times more likely to develop oral cancer than people who do not. The incidence of oral cancer in Taiwan in 2003 was three times higher than that in the 1980s, closely related to the explosive growth of the betel nut consumption population.
In other words, even if there is no tobacco mixed in, betel nut is an independent and definite carcinogenic factor.
Snacks containing betel nut are not recommended.
Worryingly, Unscrupulous traders in some areas sell snacks containing betel nuts to minors. Scientists have investigated the consumption of betel nuts by students (average age 16) in a high school in Mariana. 63% of high school students admit to eating betel nuts, and 8.8% of them have suffered from oral precancerous disease-oral submucosal fibrosis.
Summary
In short, betel nut is the first carcinogen and the definite cause of oral cancer, which is beyond doubt.
Areca nut is not a [safe] food like people’s traditional concept. Not to mention, as traditional Chinese medicine thinks, it is a [magical] drug.
Author: Ding Chao