Client Question:  My health coach says that chewing tobacco is a real health risk. There’s no smoke with all those chemicals in it like with cigarettes, so why is it so bad for you?

 

Dr. Catlett’s Answer:  First let’s define what we are talking about when we say chewing tobacco.  You can really call it a variety of names – dip, pinch, smokeless, snuff, chew, spit, plug – it’s all the same.  Anyone who watches much baseball at all surely is familiar with the “spit” that accompanies its use.  Interesting that we can’t advertise tobacco to kids, but I don’t know what else you could call watching the heroes in Boston’s dugout chew and spit throughout the playoffs and World Series.  Joe Garagiola, a former user, in an interview with Mayo clinic’s wellness newsletter, noted the loss of three friends from oral cancer caused by spit tobacco and wishes he could get the message to everyone to leave the stuff alone. 

 

Some facts:

• 10 dips or chews per day equal 30 - 40 cigarettes a day in terms of nicotine exposure.
• Chewing tobacco contains over 3000 chemicals, including 28 known carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals).
• Chew contains formaldehyde (embalming fluid), cyanide, arsenic, benzene and lead, for starters.  And if that is not enough, you also get a nuclear waste byproduct called Polonium 210!

 

What are the health risks?

• For a start: Gum disease, cavities, tooth staining and tooth loss.  Plenty of irritant chemicals to work on your teeth and gums, and toxins you get to swallow or absorb through your mouth lining.
• Moving on to more severe health problems: Your risk of heart and blood vessel disease is increased when you chew.  Chewing elevates your blood pressure and your cholesterol.
• Non-oral cancer – Know much about pancreatic cancer?  Take my word for it, you don’t want to get it and chewers get it at a higher rate than nonusers.  Tobacco seems to cause the cancers you can’t cure.
• Precancerous oral lesions – Leukoplakia, a precancerous mouth lesion, often forms where you rest the tobacco.  Keep chewing and before you know it you can get mouth cancer, especially when you combine chewing with alcohol use.
• Oral cancer – It’s tough to swallow when a good bit of your skin, jaw, mouth and throat is gone after surgery for cancer.  If you like to eat, imagine all your nutrition through a tube – if you survive.
• Addiction – The same nicotine found in cigarettes is here waiting to hook you.

 

You can quit.  People do it every day.  You just need a plan.  Your health coach and/or your doctor can help you get ready to try.  It may take a few attempts, but that’s normal. Don’t give up.

 

Good luck and stay well.