What is Gutka? Gutka is an extremely popular form of smokeless tobacco. It is considered as a natural herbal concoction.

It is essentially a dried version of paan. Its ingredients include lime paste, cardamom, fennel, honey, areca nut, and tobacco. It is extremely cheap and easy to procure. It is hugely popular among the young and old alike. Its mode of intake is similar to chewing gum and it is sweet like candy. Unlike, other forms of tobacco, it is neither considered as taboo nor addictive. Most people do not even consider it to be a tobacco product because it is mixed with spices. Instead, it is viewed as a breathrefresher and is believed to help with indigestion. Gutka A cocktail of toxic ingredients The combination of areca nut (or betel nut) and tobacco, which are two of the prime ingredients of gutka essentially turn it into a cocktail of many toxic substances. These are, Nicotine, Carcinogens, Magnesium carbonate and Phenyl ethyl alcohol.

Gutka also contains many additional perfumery ingredients which contains many substances like, Musk-ketones and Other injurious fragrance-compunds.

Traces of various metals like lead, nickel, cadmium, iron, chromium, manganese, zinc and copper have also been found in gutka.1 Harmful effects of gutka Gutka is extremely harmful and continued usage can cause a variety of ailments. Its various harmful effects are listed below 1. Gutka can cause cancer. The most serious side effect associated with prolonged gutka use is an increased risk of cancer, especially with those who chew or consume gutka on a regular basis. It increases the risk of cancer of the gums, mouth, throat, lung, liver, stomach, prostate and esophagus. The toxicity of the carcinogenic alkaloids in the betel nut is elevated by the inclusion of tobacco and lime.

http://www.medic4health.com/2011/05/gutka/

2. Gutka is also used as a hallucinogen Large doses of gutka can cause a cocaine-like state of intoxication. Symptoms of gutkha intoxication include dilated pupils, amnesia, psychosis, confusion, impaired judgment and euphoria. While some gutkha users seek the product because of its euphoric, stimulant effects, it can cause serious long-term psychological problems. After prolonged use, many users become addicted to gutkhas effects on brain chemistry. Withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, dry mouth, amnesia, insomnia, cognitive problems and fatigue. 3. Gutka can cause heart ailments Like most stimulants, gutkha can adversely affect the cardiovascular system. The National Institutes of Health warn that betel nut is associated with abrupt changes in blood pressure, which can lead to unpleasant side effects such as dizziness and blurred vision. Palpitations and cardiac arrhythmia are also very common in people using gutkha on both a long-term and shortterm basis. More seriously, gutkha use is associated with an elevated risk of chest pain, heart attack and stroke. 4. Gastro-intestinal effects Nausea, vomiting, acid reflux, abdominal pain and diarrhea are common in gutkha users. Rarely, these side effects may be so severe that they lead to a life-threatening state of dehydration, which may require hospitalization. Gastrointestinal side effects may last several hours, days or even weeks following the ingestion of gutkha. It has also been known to cause users to lose control of the bowels and/or bladder. 5. Gutka can adversely affect the consumers hormones Gutka can damage the consumers DNA and even alter the production of key body chemicals like sex hormone. Gutka affects the normal function of a key family of enzymes, known as CYP 450. These enzymes are found in almost every organ in the human body. They play an important position in the production of various hormones especially the sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen). They are also vital for the production of Vitamin D and good cholesterol. Gutka also affects the production the hormones that break-up prescription drugs and other toxic substances.2

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/gutkha-can-be-bad-for-sex-life/1/103889.html

6. Gutka can also affect an unborn child The gradual accumulation of toxic and trace metals in human body, due to the consumption of gutka, results in slow poisoning. The traces of lead, cadmium and chromium can also be passed on to newborns through the placenta. Gutka can have adverse effects on reproductive health in women. Gutkha induces a very high risk of still birth when used by pregnant women

Statistics and studies based on gutka Gutka was found to play a huge role in oral submucousal fibrosis. Oral submucousal fibrosis (or OSF) is a chronic, complex, irreversible, highly potent pre-cancerous condition. As the disease progresses, the jaws become rigid to the point that the sufferer is unable to open his mouth. According to this study, the relative risk of developing oral submucosal fibrosis was highest with the gutka-chewing habit. The next highest relative risk for development of oral submucosal fibrosis was observed for the combination of gutka with other chewing habits. The relative risk of developing sub mucosal fibrosis increased with the frequency of chewing habit up to 15 times daily with a duration of habit up to 4 years. The relative risk decreased with chewing frequency beyond 15 times daily and 4 years in duration. 3 Dr Sukhvinder Nayyar of the Cancer Care Trust of Indore says, Thirty per cent of the youth coming to our out-patients department (OPDS) have leukoplakia or sub mucosal fibrosis. That develops because of chewing gutkha.4 A three-year-long scientific study, conducted by Muhammad Tahir, Dr. Akhtar Shareef and Farooq Ahmed Khan, scientists at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, found traces of toxic metals in 250 samples of products containing betel nut gutka, supari, mainpuri, mawa, pan and sweet supari. The research found unhealthy amounts of copper, cadmium, lead, nickel, iron, chromium, manganese and zinc in these products. These metals taken in large amounts are toxic and can have serious and long term ill effects and even lead to oral cancer, says Tahir.5

According to a recent research, 7% of primary school children in Karachi consume gutka, says Dr Qaiser Sajjad a renowned ENT surgeon and Finance Secretary of the Pakistan Medical Association Centre. Research conducted in the Ibrahim Hyderi coastal area of the city yielded even more disturbing results. Nearly 96% women there have picked up the habit of consuming

3 4

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19587880 http://goodhealthnyou.com/hot/diabetes1.asp?id=235&aid=69 5 http://tribune.com.pk/story/352654/gutka-taste-for-the-toxic/

gutka before breastfeeding, in order to make their children sleepy, thus transferring all its ill effects to their newborn baby.6

http://tribune.com.pk/story/352654/gutka-taste-for-the-toxic/