In 2012, <\/em>CDC started a national media campaign to encourage smokers to quit and prevent others,<\/em> 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.\u00a0 This campaign continues in 2013 with tips from former smokers. “Although they may be \u00a0tough to watch, the ads show real people living with real, painful consequences from smoking<\/a>,” 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.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In recent years, more attention has been paid to the potential contribution of one\u2019s genes to the risks of smoking<\/a> addiction and harms.\u00a0 To rephrase a common saying among geneticists: \u201cGenes spill the fuel, but environment lights the match.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0In other words, one\u2019s genome may predispose one to risk for certain diseases, but it is only when that vulnerability is combined with certain exposures that harm occurs. \u00a0Among behaviors that impact the incidence of disease, smoking is one of the most powerful<\/a> \u201cfire starters\u201d in the world.\u00a0 \u00a0Some 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<\/a> including smoking cessation.\u00a0 The good news is that people who do stop smoking sharply reduce their risk<\/a> for disease and early death, and the earlier they stop, the better.<\/p>\n \u201cBut my great aunt smoked every day and lived to be 100!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The existence of centenarian smokers simply reflects the fact that, among a population of millions, even the longest odds can permit the survival of a few.<\/em> There are also unwise, unbelted, but fortunate car passengers who somehow live through horrific accidents despite having greatly reduced their chances {always buckle up<\/a>!}.\u00a0 There are even documented cases of people who have fallen from skyscrapers and even high altitude aircraft and survived<\/a>, but we don\u2019t recommend that either.<\/p>\n Regardless of age, however, smoking takes a toll on quality of health and harms virtually every organ in the body<\/a>, not to mention the effects on family members and others of secondhand smoke.\u00a0 For children aged 18 months or younger, secondhand smoke exposure is responsible<\/a> for an estimated 150,000\u2013300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia and approximately 7,500\u201315,000 hospitalizations, annually in the United States alone.<\/p>\n There are NO validated genetic tests<\/em> that can tell someone that they have a lower risk of health effects from smoking.\u00a0 Smoking is fundamentally harmful to health regardless of genetic makeup or family history.\u00a0 No amount of exposure to tobacco smoke is without risk, and no genetic test provides an excuse to smoke.<\/em><\/p>\nWhere There is Smoke There is Fire\u2026 Addiction, and Yet Desire To Quit<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Last fall, CDC\u2019s MMWR provided the <\/em>latest data<\/a> on cigarette smoking among working U.S. adults.\u00a0 Smoking remains the single most important preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S., yet <\/em>people of all descriptions, occupations, and backgrounds are addicted to nicotine.\u00a0 Most want to stop, but find it very difficult. More than one half had made an attempt to quit in the past year<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhere There is Smoke There is High Risk<\/h3>\n
No Easy Answers Through Genetics<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/strong>Tobacco smoke is a mixture of more than 7,000 chemicals that interact with the body through multiple complex pathways. Hundreds of these chemicals are toxic or carcinogenic. \u00a0\u00a0Genetic research on smoking and health has focused on three main areas: 1) understanding molecular mechanisms of smoking-related diseases, including lung cancer<\/a>; 2) using combinations of risk factors, including genetic susceptibility, to identify high-risk groups of smokers<\/a> for enrollment in chemoprevention and screening trials; and 3) tailoring smoking cessation programs to individuals<\/a> based on genetic risk information.\u00a0 Although all remain active areas of research, none have so far changed the public health or clinical approaches to preventing smoking-related diseases. In fact, an article recently published in Annals of Family Medicine<\/a> notes that all proven\u00a0interventions for treating tobacco dependence\u2014such as quit lines and physician counseling\u2014are underutilized. The authors conclude that \u201calthough genetics offers increasing opportunities to tailor drug treatment, and may in some cases provide useful risk prediction, other methods of personalizing care are likely to yield greater benefit to populations experiencing health disparities related to tobacco use.\u201d<\/p>\n
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