title: Tobacco and areca nut chewing--reproductive impairments: an overview.
abstract: A large number of people are using smokeless tobacco and areca nut worldwide. Sufficient data on tobacco smoking have harmful effect on human health and reproduction is available. However, data on the smokeless tobacco and areca nut use on human reproduction is scanty. This overview is an attempt to compose on the consumption of smokeless tobacco and areca nut on human reproduction and some relevant experimental data were also included. The existing studies suggest that tobacco and areca nut chewing alone, together or with other ingredients had reproductive toxic potential. Pregnant women using smokeless tobacco during pregnancy also had adverse effect on pregnancy and its outcome. Thus pregnant women must avoid consumption of any mixture containing areca nut and tobacco in order to protect the pregnancy and outcome. The data suggest that smokeless tobacco use is also harmful as smoking for reproduction and use of areca nut might have further compounded the problem.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive and Cyto-toxicology, National Institute of Occupational Health, (ICMR), Ahmedabad 380016, India. sunilnioh@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Sunil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001114:Areca / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D009754:Nuts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D020340:Tobacco Use Cessation; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless / Q000009:adverse effects*