Subscribe
Previous Post
Today, the b5media Science and Health Channel is holding a theme day about smoking. Take a look at my right sidebar and click on the other science and health blogs for some very thought provoking posts on smoking. I’ll do a round-up tomorrow too so you can see all that the Science and Health Channel has to offer on the subject.
Over the past year, I’ve posted many times about the harmful effects of smoking on DNA. But molecular DNA damage is pretty far removed from the tangible existence of everday life. Talking about carcinogenic molecules isn’t all that convincing.
Why do some people start up and others (like me) never even tried one cigarette? Does it lie in our genes? Are some of us more genetically susceptible to nicotine addiction? What would get people to quit?
It’s a complex combination of opportunity, situation, psychological factors, and genetics. Certainly, if cigarettes didn’t exist, nobody would be smoking. We might be toking on other kinds of drugs, but not cigarettes. In fact, maybe the drug of choice would be fatty food or alcohol.
Love the smoker, hate the smoking. I have friends who are trying to quit right this minute and friends who are lighting up right this minute (thankfully not next to me). Friends who should have known better to begin with. When it comes to healthy behavior, don’t we all know better?
Most likely, there’s an overlap of genes that underly addictive behavior. When those are found, we’ll be able to develop gene-targeted drug therapy. But unless we’re all willing to tame our addictive tendencies in whatever way we can, we shouldn’t be pointing fingers at one group or another.
We should be helping each other live healthier lives. That’s what Genetics and Health is all about.
What have you done today to help someone live a healthier life?
Technorati Tags: smoking, cigarettes, nicotine, genes, genetics, disease, health, dna, addiction
2195 days ago
[...] These numbers show that while having BRCA1, BRCA2, or HNPCC significantly increases a person’s risk of cancer, most cancers are still not caused by these specific mutations. The majority of cancer cases arise from a combination of other genes and environmental/lifestyle factors, such as smoking. [...]
2196 days ago
[...] Smoking [...]
2200 days ago
[...] Our theme day yesterday here at b5media’s Science and Health Channel focused on smoking. Cory at Baldiness has done us the favor of collecting all the posts together into one comprehensive list. It’s fascinating how smoking touches every aspect of our lives whether we’re smokers or not. [...]
markw: Wish I had a t-shirt to hand out. :) Way to go!!!
Me too! Me too!
I quit Feb 10th, 2006. Coming up on three months! Yay!
Matt: Thank you!! Here’s wishing for another 4×1010 smoke-free months for you.
Gayla: YAY!!! I’m so happy for you!!!
I’m a quiter! I quit Oct. 5, 2005 and haven’t had one regret :)
What have I done to help others? I quit smoking 4 months ago, and touch wood, will stay quit!