CHENNAI: The Cancer Institute (Women India Association) Chennai has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ban all tobacco-related products from being manufactured or sold in the country. E Vidhubala, assistant professor and principal investigator, department of psycho-oncology and Tobacco Cessation Centre, Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar told City Express that the regional directors of the cancer centres had written letters to Prime Minister Manm ... Jump to full article >>

Safiq Shaikh was 13 when he began chewing a blend of tobacco and spices that jolted him awake when his job at a textile loom got too dreary. Five years later, doctors in Mumbai lopped off his tongue to halt the cancer that was spreading through his mouth. Shaikh believed the fragrant, granular mixture he chewed, known in India as gutka, was a harmless stimulant and at first he ignored the milky lump growing inside his mouth. Now Shaikh is one of ... Jump to full article >>

Drinking four cups of coffee a day protects against oral cancer, a study shows. People with a heavy coffee habit are 39 per cent less likely to suffer from cancers of the mouth and pharynx, it suggests. Doctors say people should drink coffee in moderation because caffeine can increase heart rate and blood pressure. However, the researchers insist evidence is strong that some of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee – including antioxidants – ... Jump to full article >>

Rick Bender sat on a stage at the Ohio Statehouse fiddling with a chewing tobacco can as people stared at his disfigured face. Bender is used to it. He does this kind of thing on purpose. For the last 17 years, Bender has traveled the country, warning people of the dangers of tobacco use. Bender grew up in Kentucky and California and started using chewing tobacco at age 12. By age 26 in 1989, doctors diagnosed him with oral cancer, took out a th ... Jump to full article >>