The study was
conducted by molecular oncologist Jan Dumanski and statistician Lars Forsberg
of Uppsala University in Sweden. They took advantage of data collected from
three ongoing Swedish trials. The long-term studies are looking for
associations between behavioral, lifestyle, or other traits and disease. As
part of the studies, data and blood are collected periodically.
Dumanski and
Forsberg compared the DNA in blood cells of smokers to nonsmokers in more than
6000 men and found that smokers are 2.4 to 4.3 times more likely to be missing
Y chromosomes in their blood cells than non-smokers.
The only
factors that correlated with high Y chromosome loss were age and smoking. The
study was reported in Science.
A recent study found an association between Y
chromosome loss and a shorter life span, as well as a higher risk of multiple
cancers.
“the associations between Y chromosome loss and shortened life span
and disease risk do need to be confirmed in other large long-term studies.”
says Stephen Chanock, a cancer geneticist at the National Cancer Institute in
Bethesda, Maryland
Dumanski and his colleagues are also planning follow-up studies to
better understand how cellular Y chromosome deficiency might cause poor health.
Y chromosome damage caused by smoking appears to be reversible and
dose-dependent.
Meanwhile, there is some reassuring news for smokers.
“Previous smokers were no more likely to have Y chromosome loss than
those who have never smoked” Forsberg says, so it’s never too late to quit
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