Oral Health of Vegetarians is a Neglected Aspect of Stomatological Research: A Reflection based on PubMed Evidence

The vegetarians form one-fifth of the global population. The vegetarians are a peculiar group of people; existing body of scientific evidence shows that they are a highly vulnerable group of people when it comes to oral diseases. The oral health of vegetarians is a critical aspect of dentistry; however, current evidence­based on PubMed database search­shows a dearth of literature on this thematic area. It appears this aspect is being neglected in the field of stomatological research. INTRODUCTION It is a general saying that 'you are what you eat'.This is a very true statement; what you eat goes a very long way in determining who you are, where you come from, what you are passing through, what you are up to, and why you eat [1].There are many factors that determine the pattern and choicespeople makeinfeeding themselves and/or their families [1]. For example, some people's choices of food are based on religious ideologies. In some religious societies, what one eatsmay determine how others perceive him/her i.e.being referred to as a faithful or a non-faithful. Whilstit is forbidden to eat pork in Jewish and Muslim societies, it is not forbidden insome non-Muslim and non-Jewish societies[2,3]. Arguably,the initiation, maintenance and modification of eating habits are complex processes. Who are Vegetarians?Based on the content of what is being eaten, people are classified as vegetarians and non-vegetarians. A vegetarian is a person who abstains from eating meat (flesh), seafood, and by-products of animal slaughter [4,5]. On the other hand, a non-vegetarian is a person who eats any or all of what vegetarians abstain from. A vegetarian diet is a very special diet and it includes variety of delicacies (Table 1) [4,5].

Natural Products and Synthetic Analogs as a Source of Antitumor Drugs.

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease and one of the major issues of health concern, especially for the public health system globally. Nature is a source of anticancer drugs with abundant pool of diverse chemicals and pharmacologically active compounds. In recent decade, some natural products and synthetic analogs have been investigated for the cancer treatment. This article presents the utilization of natural products as a source of antitumor drugs.