I don't know when to start, many people in China have developed the habit of chewing betel nuts, especially in the coastal areas of Guangdong Province, some people always like to eat betel nuts, so will eating more betel nuts cause cancer? Will eating betel nuts become addictive? Although betel nuts are very chewy, but for their own safety, it's better not to eat them.
Can you cause cancer by eating a betel nut?
Chewing areca nut will lead to periodontitis, oral submucous fibrosis and oral leukoplakia, as well as oral cancer. In addition, excessive consumption of betel nut will produce toxic symptoms, with mild excitement, dull eyes, shaking all over the body, unsteady walking, strange or rough behavior; severe cases will lead to acute psychosis, including auditory hallucination, self expansion, forced delusion, delirium, etc.
Many epidemiological studies have confirmed that betel nut chewing is closely related to oral cancer. The results of several years' research in domestic medical institutions show that about 88% of oral cancer patients have the habit of chewing betel nut. If chewing betel nut with smokers, it is more likely to cause oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, pharyngeal cancer and esophageal cancer, and chewing betel nut, smoking and drinking together, it will have a better carcinogenic effect.
Betel nut induced precancerous lesions, oral submucous fibrosis: common in buccal mucosa, followed by the jaw. The oral mucosa will burn, ulcerate, turn white, lose elasticity gradually, and finally cause difficulty in opening and swallowing. In some patients, the oral submucous fibrosis will change into oral cancer. Oral leukoplakia: common in buccal mucosa, tongue, gums, floor of mouth and lip angle. Leukoplakia of mucous membrane will gradually change from white to mixed white, and some of them will also change into oral cancer.
Is betel nut addictive?
Because there are some ingredients in betel nut that are addictive and hallucinogenic, it is addictive to eat betel nut.
Arecoline in Areca catechu can stimulate M-cholinergic receptor. Chewing areca catechu can increase the tension of gastrointestinal smooth muscle, increase intestinal peristalsis, increase the secretion of digestive fluid and appetite. But chewing betel nut for a long time can lead to addiction and even fantasy. Experts suggest that people with spleen deficiency and loose stools, and those with Qi deficiency and depression should take betel nut carefully. People who are addicted to areca should gradually control the daily consumption of areca and gradually give up.
Can pregnant women eat betel nuts?
A study shows that long-term acceptance of arecolin in areca nut and safrole in Verbena flower has a significant inhibitory effect on the survival and growth of umbilical cord vascular endothelial cells, but pregnant mothers still don't chew it.
In addition to the oral cancer caused by areca, many research reports also show that from the beginning of chewing, whether through the mucous membrane or blood into the human body, there is a threat of cancer to the mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, liver; in addition, a study also found that if pregnant women have the habit of eating areca, the probability of causing reproductive harm such as abortion, premature birth is also greatly increased.
Ge Yingqin, director of the medical and environmental health research group of the National Institutes of health, conducted a retrospective survey on 186 pregnant women in Pingtung and Taidong five years ago. It was found that 62 of them had poor pregnancy, 43% of them ate betel nut, excluding the interference factors of tobacco and alcohol. It was found that pregnant women who only ate betel nut were 2.8 times more likely to have reproductive harm than ordinary pregnant women. The previous year was more rigorous According to the hospital survey, the risk of harm was increased to 5 times. In addition to the high probability of abortion, the baby's birth weight was also low.
Arecolin and safrole are recognized as the most important components of areca carcinogenesis and cell mutation. If the fetus is exposed to these bad things, it may have deformities, development obstacles and even death. However, at present, the research on the effect of areca on pregnancy is more inclined to animals, while the effect of eating areca on the human reproductive system, except for cervical cells and pregnant women's lymphocyte chromosomes, has been found In addition to the variation, the others are still focused on epidemiology, and Kaohsiung City United hospital has used human umbilical cord blood vessels for the first time.
Their research points out that a short time (30 minutes to two hours) of betelnut and safrole can reduce the tension of human umbilical cord blood vessels, that is, cause vasorelaxation, and the larger the dose, the stronger the effect, which means that the short-term administration of these two carcinogenic ingredients of betelnut can improve the blood circulation of fetus and placenta, and make the fetus get nutrition from mother more smoothly, but this Further research and verification are needed. However, long-term (24-48 hours) administration of arecolin and safrole has obvious side effects, not only the umbilical cord vascular endothelial cells are inhibited, but also the greater the dosage of arecolin, the stronger the effect, and even poison cells, cause cell growth arrest, and affect the physiological function of vascular endothelial cells.
In recent years, studies have pointed out that pregnancy hypertension, which often leads to high-risk pregnancy, is a kind of vascular endothelial cell disease, and they have found that arecolin and safrole do affect umbilical cord vascular endothelial cells, so the correlation between arecolin and pregnancy hypertension has further exploration value.