• 8/3/2005
  • Saipan, Northern Marianas
  • Felix T. Cabrera Jr.
  • Saipan-Tribune (www.saipantribune.com)

Betel nut causes cancer. I am not referring to what you mix in it. I am specifically stating that betel nut by itself causes cancer. Numerous studies have proven betel nut to have carcinogenic chemicals that naturally grow in it, which causes cancer. Does this mean you will develop oral cancer if you chew just betel nut? Your risk does increase. It is near common knowledge that tobacco causes cancer. If you chew your betel nut with tobacco your risk of developing oral cancer doesn’t double, it multiplies.

By putting two cancer-causing agents in your mouth you greatly increase your risk of developing oral cancer and dying prematurely of it. Already too many families can attest to the lost of love ones because of this. These are people who probably could have lived a few decades longer if it was not for chewing. Betel nut use and the diseases that result are becoming a major public health issue. One that will become very prominent with very large numbers affected in the next decade, if not sooner.

I implore anyone concerned with their health in relation to betel nut chewing to consult your physician and/or dentist. I implore all physicians and dentists to make betel nut chewing an integral part of your patient’s care, if not already.

Look around and you will see many young people, many minors chewing betel nut with tobacco. Have we forgotten that consuming, purchasing, and/or possessing tobacco by a minor is against the law? How is it that a parent can reprimand their child for smoking a cigarette, yet be willing to give their child a cigarette just as long as the child swears he or she will only chew it? This is equivalent to a parent allowing their child to drive a moped drunk but will forbid them from driving a car drunk. In certain situations, chewing tobacco can be worse than smoking.

Betel nut is addictive and so is tobacco. Put the two together and it is like swimming against the current with your feet tied. Many first encounters with betel nut are through an older relative, but usually without tobacco. Most claim to never develop the habit until tobacco is introduced and most of the time it is through peer pressure. How many regular chewers do you know below the age of 40 that chew betel nut without tobacco? Not many I am sure. If we can reduce tobacco use in betel nut, it is likely we will reduce betel nut chewing. We will definitely see many lives saved.

One might feel that betel nut is part of our culture and should not be regulated. Right now regulating betel nut does not have to be the issue. Tobacco use in betel nut has to become more of an issue. You will be hard pressed to find someone who will agree that including tobacco in betel nut is a cultural practice. It is not. It has dishonored a tradition that is supposed to be practiced only by the wise, only the experienced. Chewing betel nut without tobacco in moderation like our elders used to may only cause health effects that are much more manageable. Tobacco has found a way to infiltrate our culture, infiltrate into our children’s lives, and infiltrate our health. It is killing us more rapidly. We already have enough health issues to worry about.

Parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, educators, store clerks, the police and many more adults are essential to helping enforce tobacco laws. It is there for a reason. It is imperative that all adults are on the same page when it comes to how we deal with betel nut chewing, especially with tobacco. Never be comfortable with the fact that a child is using tobacco underage, regardless of their method of consumption. Never be comfortable with the fact that our people are using betel nut in ways and ages our ancestors and most elder folks would never approve of. Remember that the younger you start chewing betel nut, the younger you are at risk for developing cancer, not to mention other ailments like periodontal diseases, psychoactive symptoms, fibrous tissue formation, cosmetic concerns, and let us not forget the financial demands of the habit.

(Cabrera is a second year medical student at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, WA)