Breakthroughs Today

The last people to fault drunkards from drinking themselves to death are those who do not brush their teeth regularly. And studies discussed in this article tell you why. LAWRENCE Welk said: “For a while we had trouble trying to get the sound of a champagne cork exploding out of the bottle. I solved the problem by sticking my finger in my mouth and popping it out.” Non-drinkers can assure any person they can get on without a bottle of champagne or beer. But even they might not be able to get away from the scourge that plagues heavy drinkers—oral, laryngeal or pharyngeal cancer. The culprit is acetaldehyde (ALDH), a byproduct of alcohol oxidation that causes disarray of genetic materials eventually leading to cancer. A less known study in 2001 found that even people with normal levels of ALDH (deficiency in ALDH builds up acetaldehyde in the mouth after drinking alcohol) can develop oral cancer because of acetaldehyde. In their report published in “Alcohol,” S. Vakevainen, J. Tillone

ROBERT Louis Stevenson wrote: “Wine is bottled poetry.” It has been a common knowledge among medical scientists that elderly men are mostly at high risk to Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC) because of these elderly people's previous use of tobacco and excessive intake of alcohol. But as early as 2005, studies observed patients below age 40 as having OSCC. Seven researchers from four medical schools in Greece conducted a review of available studies on the subject, and found several factors common among OSCC patients. These are... [ Read more ] This article appears in Sun.Star Cebu on 9 March 2011.