Mouth Cancer

Mouth cancer or oral cancer is a serious disease. It includes cancer of the lip, tongue and mouth.

Every year 4000 people get mouth cancer, of whom about 1700 people will die. It is very common amongst people from Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka and Pakistan.

Early stages of cancer can be cured wil less extensive treatments.

People get mouth cancer for the following reasons.

• Chewing paan with added ingredients such as tobacco, areca nuts, lime etc.
• Smoking tobacco
• Drinking alcohol

Prevention

You can prevent mouth cancer by;

• Finding out about the harmful effects of chewing paan and tobacco from your doctor or dentist.
• Making changes to your lifestyle
  • Give up paan and tobacco chewing
  • Cut down on the tobacco you add
  • Do not keep paan in your mouth overnight
  • Give up smoking
• Encouraging children not to take up the habit.
• Eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet
• Making regular visits to the dentist

Treatment

If detected early it can be treated by;

• Surgery
  • Removing the tumor
• Radiotherapy
  • with X-Ray treatments

Warning Signs for oral cancer and pre-cancer

• Ulcers on the lips, gums or elsewhere inside the mouth that do not heal in 2-3 weeks
• White Patches inside the mouth or on the lips
• Swelling or lumps in the mouth
• Increasing Intolerance to spices
• Numbness, pain or bleeding in the mouth without apparent cause.

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