The name betel comes from the betel-pepper plant. Though the nut and the betel – pepper plant are unrelated but the name was derived from the betel –pepper plant because betel chewers usually wrap a piece of areca fruit in betel – pepper leaf, together with a little mineral lime.
Therefore, betel nut is actually the tropical, fleshly fruit
of the areca palm (betel palm), usually found in the Southeast Asia and the
pacific.
Health hazards of chewing betel nut
The lime promotes the release of alkaloid stimulant which
can make chewers wanting to chew more
and more of the nuts thus making chewing of betel nuts their second nature.
Many chewers spit repeatedly because spices, tobacco or
sweetness are usually added in the preparation to make the taste better. This
makes the color to be blood –red, stimulates the production of saliva and this result
to frequent spitting.
Consistent chewing of betel nut can give the teeth a
brownish – red staining. It can also result to various mouth disease such as oral
submucous fibrosis and gum disease.
Betel nut chewer with stained tooth Betel nuts
Image from Google search
Chronic betel nut chewing can lead to serious medication complications such mouth cancer known as oral squamous cell carcinoma and cardiovascular disease.
Chewing betel nut can disrupt or damage the DNA of an unborn
baby. Therefore, pregnant women should avoid the chewing of betel nut so as not
to disrupt the development of the fetus.
Chronic chewer of betel nut usually exhibit such cholinergic
(altering of the state and function of the central nervous system and the
neurotransmitters) symptoms such as sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, frequent
salivation, excessive tearing etc.
Habitual chewing of betel nut can result to side effects
such as excessive heart beat, anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, cardiac
arrhythmia etc.
Since those fond of chewing betel nut do so because of one
reason or the other, betel nut definitely have it own benefits, health wise or
not.
The habitual chewer will give one or more health benefits
for the reason why they are chewing it. But the fact is that such claim by
chewers cannot be scientifically or medically proved. Research also shows that
the health hazards of chewing betel nut far outweigh any associated benefits.
What the news says about betel nut
“World wide, betel nut sales bring in billions of dollars”.
“The highest population of betel
nut chewer is found in the East Africa, Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, Papua
new Guinea and Micronesia and they are about 10% of the world’s population.”
“Users often consider it harmless
and report a sense of well – being and a warm sensation of the body …. Evidence
has shown, however, that it is far from harmless“. – Oral Health
“Papua New Guinea’s favorite
chew, the betel nut, is killing at least 2000 people a year and is responsible
for many health problems, according to the PNG Medical Society”. – Papua New
Guinea’s post – courier.
No comments:
Post a Comment