A recent SAGE study published in the online open access journal BMC Genomics, could unlock the mystery as to why ex-smokers are more prone to lung cancer than non smokers.
After analyzing the samples taken from 24 current, former, and non smokers the researchers found out that smoking causes some irreversible changes in the gene activity. Not only are the genes that combat lung cancer permanently switched off, smoking also causes irreversible damage to some DNA repair cells.
As if these damages were not enough, gene activity is also triggered in genes not traditionally associated with smoking, like the CABYR (a gene associated with brain tumors).
The findings of the study are very significant, considering the fact that tobacco is responsible for a whopping 85 percent of the cases of lung cancer, and 50 percent of those diagnosed are former smokers.
According to a 2005 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 20 percent of the adults in the U.S. smoke. Thanks, to the various initiatives taken by the government, smoking rates are gradually declining in the U.S.
Do you know as of January 1, 2006, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington are considered to be smoke-free?
Don’t put off giving up smoking any longer. Become a part of the smoke-free movement and do your bit in reducing disease, disability, and death related to active and passive smoking.
via:sciencedaily,smoking
Image