September is Blood Cancer Awareness month, a campaign close to our heart at WDC.
As a team we are planning to climb Snowdon to support ‘Anthony Nolan Walking Together’ to raise awareness and much needed funds to help those affected by Blood Cancer related illnesses.
Please join with us and donate anything you can spare to help the campaign and encourage us to get to the top of Snowdon.
You can click here to visit our Just Giving page
Thanks
Image credit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thenextsevensteps
Just a little note to say a massive THANK YOU to all our patients who supported our charity Oral B toothbrush raffle.
A total of £117.80 was raised for Macmillan Cancer support and we are sure that the lucky winner now has extremely shiny clean teeth!
Thanks again for all your support
E-cigarette vapour disables key immune cells in the lung and boosts inflammation
Research led by the University of Birmingham has found that vapourised e-liquid fluid has a similar effect on the lungs and body that is seen in regular cigarette smokers and patients with chronic lung disease.
The research, published in Thorax and funded by the British Lung Foundation, shows that e-liquid that has been vapourised through the use of an electronic ‘e-cigarette’ boosts the production of inflammatory chemicals and disables key protective cells in the lungs that keep the air spaces clear of potentially harmful particles.
They found that vapour impairs the activity of cells, called alveolar macrophages, which are key to the immune response within the airways. Alveolar macrophages engulf and remove dust, bacteria, and allergens that have evaded the other mechanical defences of the respiratory tract.
The findings have prompted the researchers to suggest that, while further studies are needed to better understand the health effects of vaping on people, e-cigarettes may be more harmful than we think.
Professor David Thickett, of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “Cigarette smoking is associated with the cause of almost every lung disease – lung cancer, asthma, COPD and fibrosis.
“It has been suggested electronic cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes, and this narrative is increasingly supported by tobacco companies that have established research institutes devoted to generating supportive data.
“E-cigarette users have been given advice based on relatively little information. We hope that by disseminating this data as widely as possible the public can at least make an informed choice; the public must be aware that these devices are not harmless.
“We hope this information will be taken on board by advisory bodies when considering their public advice strategy. We also hope this highlights the need for dedicated funding and research to determine the long term effects of e-cigarette usage.”
Dr Aaron Scott, also of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “Several previous studies have examined the effects of unvaped e-cigarette liquid however, it is well established that the vapourising process changes the chemical composition of the liquid.
“The use of vaped liquid in our study makes this a better reflection of the exposure of the user, allowing us to examine whether e-cigarettes have a negative impact on the viability and function of cells called alveolar macrophages, which are key to the immune response within the airways.
“Our work clearly shows that vapourised e-cigarette fluid is toxic to living cells; increases the production of inflammatory chemicals; and inhibits the function of cells that are key to the immune stystem.
“Importantly, we found that exposure of these cells to e-cigarette vapour induced many of the same cellular and functional changes in function seen in cigarette smokers and patients with COPD.
“While further research is needed to fully understand the effects of e-cigarette exposure in humans in vivo, we suggest continued caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe.”
To find out the impact of vaping e-liquid, the researchers devised a mechanical procedure to mimic vaping and produce ‘condensate’ from the vapour.
They extracted alveolar macrophages from lung tissue samples provided by eight non-smokers who had never had asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
A third of the cells were exposed to plain e-cigarette fluid, a third to different strengths of the artificially vaped condensate with and without nicotine, and a third to nothing for 24 hours.
The results showed that the condensate was significantly more harmful to the cells than e-cigarette fluid and that these effects worsened as the ‘dose’ increased.
After 24 hours of exposure the total number of viable cells exposed to the vaped condensate was significantly reduced compared to the ‘untreated’ cells, and condensate containing nicotine exaggerated this effect.
Exposure to the condensate increased cell death and boosted production of oxygen free radicals 50-fold and significantly increased the production of inflammatory chemicals – more so with condensate containing nicotine.
What’s more, the ability of cells exposed to vaped condensate to engulf bacteria was significantly impaired, although treatment with an antioxidant restored this function and helped lessen some of the other harmful effects.
The researchers conclude that the vaping process itself can damage vital immune system cells, at least under laboratory conditions.
Article credit: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2018/08/e-cigarette-vapour-disables-key-immune-cells-in-the-lung.aspx
Image credit: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321130.php
Mouth Cancer Action Month is a charity campaign which aims to raise awareness of mouth cancer and make a difference by saving thousands of lives through early detection and prevention.
Throughout November, we aim to raise awareness to get more mouth cancers diagnosed at an early stage. By increasing education of the risk factors and signs and symptoms to encourage everyone to discuss these with their dental professional.
The importance of Mouth Cancer Action Month
In the UK, more than 7,800 people were diagnosed with mouth cancer last year and globally there are in excess of 300,000 new cases every year.
The number of people being diagnosed with mouth cancer has grown by around a third in the last decade and remains one of very few cancers which are predicted to increase further in the coming years.
Although there are risk factors heavily linked to the disease, mouth cancer can affect anyone – that’s why it’s so important that we all know what to look out for. The campaign is all about taking action and promoting the messages:
- Don’t leave a mouth ulcer unattended for more than three weeks.
- Don’t ignore any unusual lumps or swellings or red and white patches in your mouth.
- Early detection could save your life. If you notice any changes in your mouth speak to a dentist or doctor immediately.
Mouth Cancer Action Month 2018
This year, we want everyone to get involved, whether you’re on your own or as part of a team, we have numerous ways you can be part of the campaign and make a real difference.
Mouth Cancer Action Month remains a focal point for everybody across the country to act and help spread awareness of the disease. Your support for the campaign continues to grow year-on-year, as does our passion to reduce the number of lives effected by mouth cancer.
A big thank you
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who continue to help us raise awareness of mouth cancer – your participation, no matter how big or small, is always warmly received and makes a huge difference to the campaign’s success.
Our thanks also to our sponsor, Simplyhealth Professionals and supporter Dentists’ Provident, whose contributions ensure we are able to reach the maximum number of people with our messages of education, prevention and early detection.
Campaign events and projects
Since we ran the campaign 14 years ago, it has helped facilitate thousands of events and projects, and continues to act as the spearhead campaign for providing organised grassroots activities such as oral health checks and free mouth cancer examinations, talks, sponsored events, roadshows, displays, open sessions – all which have the ultimate goal of engaging people in the importance of being aware of mouth cancer.
This is just a small sample of what we have done for Mouth Cancer Action Month over the years:
- Directly invested £1.5 million into promoting mouth cancer awareness.
- Supported more than 12,000 healthcare organisations taking part in the campaign and provided thousands with patient-facing materials and resources to promote mouth cancer awareness.
- Distributed in excess of 500,000 mouth cancer posters for displays in waiting rooms and practices, with information about risk factors, early warning signs and symptoms of mouth cancer.
- Facilitated around 1,500 specialised mouth cancer events, which specifically aimed to visually examine those patients at risk of mouth cancer.
- Supplied dental practices and hospitals with 5,000 Blue Ribbon Appeal Kits, to be displayed in dental practice waiting rooms. More than 250,000 people now wear our Blue Ribbon Badge to actively show their support for Mouth Cancer Action Month.
- Increased the profile of mouth cancer in the media agenda. More than 6,000 articles have been published, reaching more than 500 million people.
- As a charity looking to make a positive impact in the public arena, we have been able to influence policy regarding smoking, alcohol, diet and gender-neutral HPV vaccinations.
Article credit: https://www.dentalhealth.org/mouth-cancer-action-month
Image credit: https://www.dentalhealth.org/mouth-cancer-action-month