Never Let Genetics Blind You to the Harsh Reality of Cigarettes

The emerging field of genomics might one day provide some tools to help address the smoking epidemic.  However, smokers should never think that their genes can protect them from devastating harms or provide an easy way for them to quit later.

On March 15, 2012, CDC announced a national media campaign to encourage smokers to quit and prevent others, especially young people, from starting. The new communications initiative is different from past efforts because it includes graphic depictions of the real life damage that smoking does.  “Although they may be  tough to watch, the ads show real people living with real, painful consequences from smoking,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden. ” There is sound evidence that supports the use of these types of hard-hitting images and messages to encourage smokers to quit, to keep children from ever beginning to smoke, and to drastically reduce the harm caused by tobacco.”  

Where There is Smoke There is Fire… Addiction, and Yet Desire To Quit

Last fall, CDC’s MMWR provided the latest data on cigarette smoking among working U.S. adults.  Smoking remains the single most important preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S., yet people of all descriptions, occupations, and backgrounds are addicted to nicotine.  Most want to stop, but find it very difficult.  More than one half had made an attempt to quit in the past year.

In recent years, more attention has been paid to the potential contribution of one’s genes to the risks of smoking addiction and harms.  To rephrase a common saying among geneticists: “Genes spill the fuel, but environment lights the match.”   In other words, one’s genome may predispose one to risk for certain diseases, but it is only when that vulnerability is combined with certain exposures that harm occurs.  Among behaviors that impact the incidence of disease, smoking is one of the most powerful “fire starters” in the world.   Some have argued that awareness of increased genetic risk (e.g., through family health history or valid genetic test) could lead some people to make positive changes in their behaviors including smoking cessation.  The good news is that people who do stop smoking sharply reduce their risk for disease and early death, and the earlier they stop, the better.