Health complications from chewing jorda (tobacco leaf)

Tobacco is reportedly one of the prime reasons behind thousands of deaths across the world every year. When the number of tobacco users is decreasing gradually in the developed world, the opposite trend has been observed in the poor and developing countries.

Tobacco is being used in many forms and many people chew it in the Indian subcontinent. One of my colleagues, who was a heavy user of tobacco leaves, has recently been diagnosed with throat cancer. He does not know what lies ahead for him.

A section of the people think that chewing tobacco is relatively safer than smoking. This is false. Any form of smokeless tobacco use is equally destructive for human health.

Some experts believe that chewing tobacco leaves is a sort of addiction like smoking or taking drugs. The person in question needs to have a regular intake of tobacco leaves every day. Otherwise, s/he feels restless. This may accelerate the progression of diseases like throat and oral cancers.

The government should ban dry tobacco leaves. Also, a degree of awareness needs to be created among the common people about the harmful effects, which such substances can have on the human health.

Last but not the least, betel leaf and areca nuts are bad for our oral health too. It is time we shun such bad habits and live a healthy life.

Mohammed Sohel Hara

Banosree, Dhaka

sohelhara@hotmail.com