Researchers from Britain’s Medical Research Council believe they have discovered why some heavy smokers maintain healthy lungs and do not suffer from cough or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or even lung cancer. The answer would be in their DNA.
For their analysis, the researchers studied the health records of more than 50,000 people and found that a ‘favorable’ DNA mutation improved lung function in some people and shielded the deadly impact of tobacco . Smokers with this “good gene” would therefore be healthier than smokers with the bad one.
“This good gene seems to influence the way the lungs develop and respond to aggression” explains Professor Martin Tobin, one of the researchers from the University of Leicester (Great Britain).
According to these British scientists, who insist that not smoking remains the best solution for not suffering from serious respiratory disease or cardiovascular disease, this discovery could perhaps open the way to a drug that would improve lung function .
Their findings were presented at a meeting of the European Respiratory Society and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine Journal.
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