Smoking Behavior: Linked To Genes?

You've tried to quit smoking, but each time you fail. Maybe the problem isn't your willpower, but your genes. Three new studies by leading institutions are examining the role genetics plays in cigarette smoking behavior.

According to one study of over 74,000 people by the University of North Carolina published in Nature Genetics last month, there are genetic regions associated with how heavily a person is likely to smoke. More research is needed to look at how effective smoking cessation programs would be for people predisposed to smoking a certain number of cigarettes per day.

A second study of 40,000 people out of Oxford University also isolated a group of genes on a specific chromosome associated with the number of cigarettes people smoke each day.

The third study, this time from researchers in Iceland, confirmed several genes that play a role in how the body processes nicotine. Some of the genes discovered in the survey of 70,000 smokers are also associated with an increased risk for lung cancer, the researchers noted. Questions that still need to be answered are whether smoking makes a person more susceptible to lung cancer, or if that person is genetically predisposed to lung cancer (therefore rendering smoking cessation ineffective), the study went on to say.

The American Lung Association recommends that you quit now if you are a smoker, regardless of your genetic predisposition. For more information about the dangers of smoking, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health website: http://health.nih.gov/topic/Smoking or talk to your doctor.