Smoking Leaves Its Fingerprint on the DNA of Smokers that may Lead to Cancer

Smoking leaves its mark elsewhere apart from lips, finger tips, clothes and cornea; that is on the DNA.
A new study has found strong evidence that tobacco use can chemically modify and affect the activity of genes known to increase the risk of developing cancer.

Chemical compounds that affect the functioning of genes can bind to our genetic material, turning certain genes on or off.


These so-called epigenetic modifications can influence a variety of traits, such as obesity and sexual preference.
In the new study, published in Human Molecular Genetics, researchers analyzed epigenetic signatures in blood cells from 374 individuals enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.
EPIC, as it's known, is a massive study aimed at linking diet, lifestyle, and environmental factors to the incidence of cancer and other chronic diseases. Half of the group consisted of people who went on to develop colon or breast cancer 5 to 7 years after first joining the study, whereas the other half remained healthy.

Epigenetic mechanisms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The lead researcher James Flanagan of Imperial College London discovered that in comparison to the people who never smoked, there were chemicals tags in form of methyl groups on 20 different regions of DNA who smoked.
When the researchers extended the analysis to a separate group of patients and mice that had been exposed to tobacco smoke, they narrowed down the epigenetic modifications to several sites located in four genes that have been weakly linked to cancer before.
All of these changes should increase the activity of these genes, but it's unclear why increasing the activity of the genes would cause cancer, the researchers wondered; but individuals who don't have cancer tend not to have these modifications.

The original article published in the Sciencenow can be accessed here.

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Smoking in Early Preganncy Gives Rise to Child with Heart Defects

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Maternal cigarette smoking in the first trimester was associated with a 20 to 70 percent greater likelihood that a baby would be born with certain types of congenital heart defects, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defects, contributing to approximately 30 percent of infant deaths from birth defects annually.
The common defects are a communicating gap between both the upper chambers of heart (Atrial septal defect) called atrias; and outflow obstruction from the right side of heart to the lungs.
Quitting smoking is the single most important thing a woman can do to improve her health as well as the health of her baby. Successfully stopping smoking during pregnancy also lowers the chances of pregnancy complications such as preterm delivery and low birth weight baby.
Researchers in a study found that right ventricular outflow tract obstructions affect approximately 2,500 infants per year and atrial septal defects affect approximately 5,600 infants per year in the United States.
For more information on smoking and tobacco use, please visit:

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• Smoking Early in Pregnancy Raises Risk of Heart Defects in Infants (nlm.nih.gov)

Cigarette Smoke can Do the Damage Within Minutes

Common Adverse Effects of Smoking Some think occasional cigarette smoking may not be harmful. But, in a new study, researchers established that the chemicals present in the tobacco smoke act within 20 t0 30 minutes and cause damage to the DNA.
From several chemicals the cancer causing substance is paracyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). These chemicals are quickly found in the blood stream after smoking.Those get attached to the DNA to cause the change in the script.
That is why wisdom lies in avoiding smoking; be it first hand, second hand or third hand; all together.

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Quitting Smoking Requires Strong Will Power and Some Support; Perhaps Not Laser

Laser used as acupuncture therapy is being promoted for $350. Is it scientific or some sort of placebo effect?

Smoking is not difficult if one wishes to leave it sincerely.

Amplify’d from www.reuters.com

Can lasers help you stop smoking? Check the data

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -- Could one hour be all you need to quit smoking, without cravings or side effects?

That's what Innovative Laser Therapy, a New Haven, Connecticut-based company, advertises on its website. The clinic uses low-level lasers - similar to those sometimes used to treat arthritis-related pain - to target specific acupuncture points on the body related to addiction, metabolism and stress, and claims that most patients can quit smoking after one session.

"When you smoke a cigarette, you artificially tell your brain to release endorphins," Frank Pinto, the owner of Innovative Laser Therapy, told Reuters Health. Therefore, quitting leads to a quick drop in endorphin levels, he said.

"The laser basically stimulates the nerve endings to tell the brain to release a flood of endorphins" to boost a patient over that initial 3-5 day hump of withdrawal symptoms, he said.

The treatment also targets other points that are thought to suppress appetite -- to prevent the weight gain that often comes with quitting smoking -- and promote relaxation, according to Innovative Laser Therapy.

But does it work?

'NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE' IN SCIENTIFIC TERMS

There's limited research showing that laser therapy might help some smokers quit. Innovative Laser Therapy cites one study, a 2008 paper published in the Journal of Chinese Medicine, available on their site at link.reuters.com/pus95p. A UK-based team found that smokers that had four laser treatments over two weeks were more likely to quit than smokers that had three treatments. Those in the three treatment group, in turn, had better success rates than a control group that was given fake laser treatments.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 5 Americans is a current cigarette smoker, and the majority of them smoke every day. The American Heart Association reports that more than 80 percent of smokers say they want to quit. But many smokers try more than one smoking cessation method or take years of trying before they do quit for good.

Pinto launched Innovative Laser Therapy after he successfully quit smoking with a round of laser therapy from a clinic in Florida. His company charges $350 for a one-time treatment that takes less than an hour, and offers free extra treatments to patients who are still struggling with quitting in the following 6 months. Other companies do a few shorter therapy sessions as part of their regular treatment plan. Read more at www.reuters.com

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