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Tuesday, 23 April 2024

Sunday, 25 September 2005 11:16

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Dental charity issues mouth cancer warning

The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) Britain’s leading oral health charity is warning people of all ages that they have to start checking their mouth regularly if they are to stop the increasing number of mouth cancer deaths.

Mouth cancer was once considered to be something which only affected older males, the condition is now becoming much more common in younger people and women. The ratio of women to men suffering with mouth cancer has grown by a third in the last 10 years though men are still twice as likely to develop the condition.

The most common causes of mouth cancer are smoking and drinking alcohol to excess. In fact, people who do both are up to 30 times more likely to develop the condition. Poor diet is also a contributory factor.

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the Foundation, commented: “In the UK, mouth cancer kills one person every five hours and it is no longer just older males who need to be worried about developing mouth cancer – the condition can strike anyone.

“Regular self-examination is now the norm for breast cancer and testicular cancer, and it needs to be the same for mouth cancer.

“Of course you can cut your risk considerably by leading a healthy lifestyle, so giving up smoking, cutting down on alcohol and eating a healthy diet is still very important.

“However, with one in four younger sufferers living healthily prior to developing the condition, the importance of self-examination cannot be underestimated”.

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