New Telegraph

Second-hand smoke increases risk for mouth, throat cancers

Researchers in the United Kingdom (UK) have said that if you live with smokers, breathing in their smoke could increase your risk of oral cancer by more than 50 per cent. The results of their new study were published online in the journal, ‘Tobacco Control.’ Oral cancer, also known as mouth cancer, is cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless white patch that thickens, develops red patches, an ulcer, and continues to grow. Risk factors include tobacco use, heavy alcohol use and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.

The British authors said the findings highlighted the need for more effective programmes to prevent people from being exposed to secondhand smoke. Passive smoking is the inhalation of smoke, called second-hand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke, by persons other than the intended ‘active’ smoker. It occurred when tobacco smoke entered an environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment. In the research, the team analysed five studies from Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America that included a total of nearly 7,000 people, including more than 3,400 who were exposed to second-hand smoke.

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