links for 2009-01-12

Despite recent advances in therapy, the five-year survival rate remains around 50 per cent and the sequelae of treatment can be seriously debilitating. It has been long established that smoking and alcohol consumption are risk factors linked to the development of oral cancer. This review assesses the epidemiological evidence, supportive in vitro studies and mechanism by which alcohol is involved in the development of oral cancer. Further, we review the literature that associates alcohol-containing mouthwashes and oral cancer. On the basis of this review, we believe that there is now sufficient evidence to accept the proposition that alcohol-containing mouthwashes contribute to the increased risk of development of oral cancer and further feel that it is inadvisable for oral healthcare professionals to recommend the long-term use of alcohol-containing mouthwashes.

Mouthrinses increase the time of the mucosa being in contact with alcohol and it has been proved that those with a high content of alcohol do cause hyperkerastosic lesions both in human beings and laboratory animals. At the moment and with the data we have, it has not been possible to establish a causal relationship between the use of alcohol-containing mouthwashes and the development of oral cancer. There is neither an evidence of the fact that alcohol increases the effects of antiplaque agents in mouthwashes.

BACKGROUND: There has been concern that the use of alcohol-containing mouthwash may increase the risk of developing oropharyngeal cancer, or OPC. The authors examine the epidemiologic literature relating to this issue.

Leading independent experts have issued this strong warning after investigating latest scientific evidence linking alcohol-containing mouthwashes to the deadly disease.

Their review, published in the Dental Journal of Australia, concludes there is now “sufficient evidence'' that "alcohol-containing mouthwashes contribute to the increased risk of development of oral cancer''.

The ethanol in mouthwash is thought to allow cancer-causing substances to permeate the lining of the mouth more easily and cause harm.

Acetaldehyde, a toxic by-product of alcohol that may accumulate in the oral cavity when swished around the mouth, is also believed to be carcinogenic.
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There was an JADA (Journal American Dental Association) study a few years back that said the opposite. Needs further investigation.

Last fall, as Californians were waiting to vote for a new president and fill other offices, an election was held several thousand miles to the south, in Panama. Panamanians approved a multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal that by the middle of the next decade will allow the biggest container ships – those that have been forced to offload in California – to sail all the way to American ports on the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

What has been an economic strength for California, in other words, may join a growing list of weaknesses.

President Bush says he refused to "bail out my political party" by withdrawing troops "during the darkest days of Iraq," a decision now lauded by his father in an unprecedented joint interview of both presidents by Brit Hume on "FOX News Sunday."

"During the darkest days of Iraq, people came to me and said, 'You're creating incredible political difficulties for us,'" the current president said as his term draws to a close. "And I said, 'Oh, really? What do you suggest I do?' And some suggested retreat, pull out of Iraq.