There is an upsurge in cases of throat cancer ‘epidemic’ with more people being diagnosed each year especially in the UK and US, Daily Mail reports.
The upsurge according to doctors are not just results of smoking but think MouthAction — of all kinds — could be the culprit.
There’s around 12,800 new head and neck cancers in the UK every year and around 71,100 in the US, reports Daily Mail.
Since the early 1990s, incidence rates of the cancer have increased by more than a third (35 per cent) in the UK, Cancer Research says.
Doctors say human papillomavirus (HPV), a normally harmless virus that is spread sexually and through skin contact, could be behind the rise.
Dr Hisham Mehanna, from the UK’s University of Birmingham, said 70 percent of cases of throat cancer are caused by HPV which has been linked to multiple forms of cancers.
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He said people with multiple MouthAction partners have an up to nine-fold increased risk of throat cancer, also known as oropharyngeal cancer.
He wrote in The Conversation that there has been a ‘rapid increasing throat cancer in the west’ to the extent some have called ‘an epidemic’.
Around eight in ten people will carry HPV on their body at some point with around a third of the population infected at any one time, research shows.
It is most commonly found on and around the genitals, and usually causes no problems — the virus so considered so harmless, it immune system doesn’t naturally try to fight it off.
However for reasons that aren’t fully understood, the virus can invade body tissues and trigger cells changes that lead to cancer.
There are over 150 types of HPV, but only about 12 can cause cancer. HPV 16 and 18 are the most common high-risk strains that can cause oropharyngeal cancer.
This data shows that in the UK cases of throat cancer have been trending upward, just like in the US.
Catching the virus has been shown to increase risk of several cancers including cervical, mouth, anal, penile and vaginal.
The HPV vaccine – which is offered to all 12- and 13-year-old school children – more than halved rates of head and neck cancers, according to a new study
The HPV vaccine – which is offered to all 12- and 13-year-old school children – more than halved rates of head and neck cancers, according to a new study
Doctors have found that MouthAction is the biggest risk factors for this type of cancer — outpacing smoking, alcohol consumption and an unhealthy diet.
This is because the acts can lead to an HPV infection at the back of the throat or near the tonsil.
Oropharyngeal cancers affect men more than women however it isn’t clear whether or not cunnilingus — MouthAction performed on a woman — is riskier in terms of HPV transmission — than MouthAction — MouthAction performed on a man.
Research shows the overwhelming majority of (85.4 per cent) and women (83.2 per cent) perform MouthAction during intimacy.
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