Areca nut chewing and dependency syndrome: Is the dependence comparable to smoking? a cross sectional study

摘要

BackgroundAreca nut is the seed of fruit oriental palm known as Areca catechu. Many adverse effects of nut chewing have been well documented in the medical literature. As these nuts are mixed with some other substances like tobacco and flavouring agents, it has been hypothesized that it might also cause some dependency symptoms among its users. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate dependency syndrome among areca nut users with and without tobacco additives and compare it with dependency associated with cigarette smoking among the male Pakistani population.