Short  Description  Of  Projects

SOCIAL  AWARENESS ON  PAN MASALA

Submitted By:                    

                                         MD. BADRUL HASSAN (92141)

                                                    SUGANANDHA BHARATHI (92287)

                                                     PARTHA CHOWDHURY (92173)

                                                      B.K. T .K. ARACHCHI (92070)

Course Instructor:              Dr. Amit Ray

Introduction:

The habit of chewing pan masala is hazardous for the society and environment. Chewing and spitting pan masala at the public places make the environment dirty and the people feel disgusted. The number of age group is increasing day by day irrespective of age group. From the health point of view pan masala contains ingredients like tobacco or betel nut with lime (gutkha) which is very injurious to health and consequently may lead to cancer.

Effect Of Chewing  Pan Masala

More and more people these days are walking into hospital OPDs complaining that they're increasingly unable to open their mouths. Almost all of them complain of a soreness of the mouth and constant burning in the oral cavity. Some have a nasal voice and find they can't blowout the cheeks and extend the tongue. Others complain of difficulty in swallowing. All these patients suffer from oral submucous fibrosis(SMF).

The majority of patients are between 20-30 years of age, although some are as young as 13. Males are more commonly affected than females. Ten years ago, two to three patients with these symptoms would report to the OPDs at public hospitals .in Mumbai. Now two to three cases are walking in every day. All the patients have a history of chewing pan masala, tobacco or betel nut with lime (gutkha), either singly or in combination. When chewed, these substances damage the normal soft and supple lining (mucosa) of the oral cavity. A dense fibrous tissue is deposited in the submucosal layer of the soft palate and cheek, causing disabling symptoms like trismus.

Gutkha contains betel nuts,tobacco,lime,catechu and permitted spices and flavours. The first four sustances damage the sensitive mucosa, causing constant irritation and mi- crotrauma to the mucosa. Chemicals present act as a toxin. The phenol in the betel nut, with its caustic burning effect,destroys the mucosa ,causing oral ulcers. The betel nut also contains tannins, which act as astringents, precipitating protein and damaging the mucosa.

Although a medical line of treatment has been tried, a simple surgical technique seems to yield the best results. This involves the excision of the fibrous bands on both sides under  general anaesthesia. A special insulted cautery probe, with only 3 mm of the tip exposed, is used to excise the fibrous bands. The insulation prevents injury to adjacent areas. The adequate mouth opening, which is surgically achieved (about 4.5 cms), is maintained post-operatively with an instrument called the Heister's jaw stretcher. In fact, it has been

l observed that regular use of Heister's jaw stretcher (once a day, for 30 seconds), can prevent ! the problem, provided the patient stops chewing pan altogether. Of course, SMF is not , the only danger of gutkha. Leukophakia (white patches) is a pre-cancerous condition more

 CONCLUSION

From the survey we came to know that almost all of the consumer aware that pan masala an cause health problem and tried to stop but failed due to effects like headache, dizziness nd lost control during the period that they tried to stop. They start consuming it again s they could not withstand the effects. From this we infer that pan masala causes physilogical addiction not psychological.