COCA CHEWING AND HEALTH

Abstract

Buck, A. A. (Schl. Hygiene & Public Health, The John Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, Md. 21205), T. T. Sasaki, J. J. Hewitt and A. A. MacRae. Coca chewing and health. Amer. J. Epid., 1968, 88: 159–177.—Studies on the noxious effects of coca (Erythroxylon coca) leaf chewing were carried out among the residents of the Peruvian village of Cachicoto. Each chewer was matched with a control subject for age, ethnic affiliation and sex. Coca chewing was found to be associated with an inferior nutritional state (weight-height ratio, skinfold thickness, serum albumin and cholesterol); increased frequency and severity of hookworm anemia; inferior personal hygiene; and with a higher number of person-days of incapacitating illness during the month preceding the examinations. Arthropodborne diseases and infections as well as pinta and cutaneous leishmaniasis were equally prevalent among the coca chewers and matched controls. It is suggested that the difference in percentages of anemia between chewers and controls with comparable intensities of hookworm infestations is related to the inferior nutritional state of the chewers. It is thought that cocaine, the most important alkaloid contained in the leaves, is an important factor in maintaining a permanent state of malnutrition by diminishing in the habitual coca chewer the sensations of hunger and fatigue.