In a shocking study based in the United States and the United Kingdom, oral sex has emerged as the leading risk factor for a specific type of throat cancer, which mainly impacts the tonsils and the back of the throat, according to a British health expert.

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The number of cases of throat cancer has seen a rapid increase recently in the UK and the US, with many doctors even terming it an “epidemic.” The research was carried out by Dr. Hisham Mehanna, a professor at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.

According to this research, oral sex increases the risk of throat cancer in individuals, even more than smoking does. This type of throat cancer is called oropharyngeal cancer and the cause of it is human papillomavirus (HPV), which also causes cervical cancer in women.

Since HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, oral sex is the reason behind its infection in the throat and the respiratory tract, which eventually leads to oropharyngeal cancer or throat cancer in individuals.

The doctors who participated in this study concluded that the risk of throat cancer is increased in those who have a higher number of lifetime sexual partners and indulge in oral sex with them. Those with six or more lifetime sexual partners have an 8.5 times higher risk of throat cancer.

The study shows that 80 percent of all adults in the UK practice oral sex – some in an effort to abstain from regular sex – while only a fraction of them get diagnosed with throat cancer. This is because most adults develop immunity to the HPV virus.

Popular actor Michael Douglas also attributed his diagnosis of throat cancer to oral sex but also pointed out that he was a smoker and a drinker. The American Cancer Society, meanwhile, has detected nearly 55,000 fresh cases of throat or oropharyngeal cancer in the US, leading to an apparent epidemic, likely caused by oral sex.

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