Although more emphasis has been given to the genetic and environmental factors that determine host vulnerability to malaria, other factors that might have a crucial role in burdening the disease have not been evaluated yet. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the effect of khat chewing on the incidence of severe malaria syndromes and immune responses during malaria infection in an area...

A betel nut (also called betel quid) usually consists of three major ingredients: a raw areca nut, slaked lime, and Piper betle inflorescence. The size of a betel nut is usually about 3 cm × 3 cm × 2 cm (Figure 1). The acidity of a raw areca nut can cause stomach problems after repeated intake. With high alkalinity, the slaked lime can neutralize this acidity. Arecoline (the primary alkaloid in...

BACKGROUND Risk taking behaviours in relation to HIV among the mobile population is a growing public health concern in many developing countries, including Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to describe risky sexual behaviours and associated factors among male taxi drivers and assistants in Addis Ababa. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional survey design with multistage cluster sampling proc...

Background: Miraa, qat, chat, cat, ghat or khat (Catha edulis), is a shrub indigenous to Eastern Africa and Arabic countries. It is cultivated in most Africa countries. Chewed miraa has sympathomimetic and euphoric effects and its chewing is a popular habit among some populations in Kenya. Habitual miraa chewing has been associated with oral lesions including oral cancer. It has also been assoc...

Khat ( Catha edulis ) is a widely used stimulating drug often consumed in daily routine in Yemen and East African countries. Chewing khat acutely elicits states of euphoria and feelings of well-being which later shift into emotional instability and low mood. Little is known about emotional regulation in habitual khat chewers. In this study, we compared self-reports on trait anger as well as pos...

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common non-skin cancer in the world. Tobacco chewing is implicated with most of the cases of HNSCC but this type of cancer is increasing in non-tobacco chewers as well. This study was instigated to provide comprehensive variant and gene-level data in HNSCC subjects of the Indian population and fill the gap in the literature on comp...