Mouth cancer is increasing among young adults

About 85% of oral cancer occurs due to abuse of tobacco (smoke and smokelesschewing) or alcohol. But what is alarming the doctors about India’s tobacco-mouth cancer graph is that now youngsters below 30 years of age from 20% of the patient pool.

“The youngest boy whose tongue was operated was 13 years old,’’ says Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck cancer surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital. He remembers a 28-year-old woman who started using gutka as a pain killer during a toothache at 15 years of age.

While people below 25 years of age being afflicted by the disease is rare, Dr Chaturvedi is worried that as the youth get increasingly addicted to the cheap tobacco-based products, the cancer numbers too will increase. Incidentally, in 1999, the Journal of Indian Medical Association reported an unusually high incidence of oral submucous fibrosis—a stage that predates cancer by five years—among younger individuals.

The article’s author, Dr P C Gupta, then with the epidemiology research unit of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Colaba, wrote that “there are several recent reports in the literature predicting an increase inmouth cancer incidence in India. This prediction is based upon observation of an increasing prevalence of oral submucous fibrosis, especially in younger individuals, caused by gutka, an industrially manufactured food item’’.
A walk through the wards and the out-patients department of Tata Memorial Hospital tells the story of an ignored epidemic.

In the Tata Memorial Hospital’s OPD, every patient has a similar story to tell: years of consuming gutka, khaini, areca-nut or smoking cigarettes or bidis. “Almost all the patients in the OPD havemouth cancer caused due to tobacco abuse,’’ says the doctor.

Head And Neck Cancers
They encompasses a wide range of tumours that occur in the head and neck region, including the nasal passages, sinuses, mouth, throat, larynx, swallowing passages, salivary glands and the thyroid gland. People who use tobacco or drink alcohol excessively are much more likely than others to develop the disease

Oral Cancer arises in the mouth. It includes the lips, the gums and the area behind the wisdom teeth, the inside of the lips and cheeks, the floor and roof of the mouth, and the front two-thirds of the tongue

Laryngeal Cancer begins in the larynx or the voice box. It sits at the top of the trachea, the tract that leads to the lungs

Nasal Cavity & Paranasal Sinus Cancers are found in the tissues that line these hollow structures. The paranasal sinuses are hollow areas in the bones of the face near the nose that produce mucus

Nasopharyngeal Cancer is found in the nasopharynx, the uppermost portion of the throat

Oropharyngeal Cancer is found in the section of the throat (oropharynx) located just beyond the mouth. The region includes the base of the tongue, the soft palate (the soft area just beyond the roof of the mouth), and the area around the tonsils

Hypopharyngeal Cancer is found in the hypopharynx, the uppermost portion of the oesophagus (the tube through which food travels to the stomach)

Salivary Gland Cancer is found in the salivary glands, the structures that produce saliva to keep the mouth from drying, and aid in digestion of food

Treatment
It may include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. When surgery is extensive, reconstruction of the area is often possible. For example, in cases where the jaw bone is removed, a surgeon can fashion a new jaw using bone from the patient’s own leg. Dental implants can be used to replace teeth

Death Clock
According to Smokefree Mumbai Campaign, an endeavour of the BMC along with NGOs. Since Thursday, January 01, ’09 15,668 Mumbaikars have died due to smoking related causes

Rising Numbers
The excess number of deaths among adult smokers in 2010 will be about 930,000
That includes 580,000 deaths among men and 90,000 deaths among women between the ages of 30 and 69 years
- Projections Based on Study in India and Canada

Bidi Menace
6,00,000 lives are lost in India every year due to the bidi habit says the Bidi Monograph entitled, Bidi Smoking and Public health, released by the government of India in May 2008

SYMPTOMS

· A sore in the mouth that won’t heal or bleeds easily

· Frequent nosebleeds, ongoing nasal congestion, or chronic sinus infections that don’t respond to treatment

· Persistent sore throat, hoarseness or a change in the voice

· Pain in the neck, throat or ears that won’t go away

· Blood in the sputum

· Difficulty chewing, swallowing, or moving jaws or tongue

· Loosening of teeth