Research

Smoking found to disrupt sleep
A study by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine showed that sleep difficulties are another potential health problem that smokers endure.  According to electroencephalograms (EEG) of healthy smokers’ brain activity during sleep, smokers have a harder time falling asleep, and spend less time in the deepest phase of sleep than nonsmokers.  The researchers explain that the tobacco-related sleep disruptions stem from either nicotine withdrawal symptoms or from nicotine’s effects as a stimulant.  Read more here.

Smoking can double risk of colorectal polyps
A meta-analysis of 42 observational studies on smoking and colorectal cancer suggests that long-term, heavy smokers may double their risk of developing colorectal polyps compared to nonsmokers.  The study found that approximately a quarter of all colorectal polyps are associated with smoking, and that smokers have a greater chance of developing high-risk polyps.  While polyps are the most common precursor to colorectal cancer, the link between smoking and colorectal cancer is controversial.  However, these findings may be reason for smokers begin screenings for colorectal cancer at an earlier age.  Find out more here.

New study concludes that smoking increases breast cancer risk based on genes
A recent study examined ten studies published over the last ten years involving a total of approximately 12,000 pre- and post- menopausal women, and compiled genetic data, smoking histories, and breast cancer histories.  This analysis showed a link between a gene called NAT2, smoking, and breast cancer.  The NAT2 gene is involved in breaking down aromatic amines, a class of carcinogens found in cigarette smoke.  People who have a particular form of the NAT2 gene cannot break down these carcinogens as efficiently, and are prone to more severe DNA damage--which can lead to cancer--as a result of smoking.  Click here for more information.

Cigarette smoking linked heart attacks in early 50's for people with common gene variant
Up to 70% of the population may have a gene that, in combination with heavy smoking, puts them on track to have a heart attack 12 years earlier than those without the gene.  People with this variant of the CETP (cholesteryl ester transfer protein) gene have lower levels of HDL, or the “good” cholesterol.  This may explain why some heavy smokers have heart attacks at a young age, while others are able to avoid heart problems.  Find out more details in a summary of the study here.

Cigarettes leave deadly path by purging protective genes
A recent study examined the link between smoking, genetic factors, and lung ailments.  Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) appear to be linked to the gene Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). This gene plays a role in preventing premature aging and cancer.  New therapies for pulmonary disease could counteract the harmful decrease in SIRT1 gene activity caused by environmental harms such as smoking by targeting SIRT1 gene activity.  Click here for a summary of the results of the study.

International

India caught in catastrophic smoking epidemic: 1 million tobacco deaths predicted a year during the 2010s
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine surveyed deaths throughout India between 2001 and 2003, and found that tobacco is the cause of one in five deaths among men and one in twenty deaths among women.  Smokers die significantly earlier than nonsmokers, and even a small amount of cigarette smoking (1-7 cigarettes daily) increases the risk of death by 50%. Alarmingly, only 2% of Indian smokers have successfully quit smoking--generally after a decline in health.  For more information about the study, click here.

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