Genetic Injury Found In Lungs Of Ex-Smokers

Scientists have found genetic damage in the lungs of current and former smokers, strengthening the direct evidence that cigarette smoke causes cancer.

Scientists from the University of Texas in Houston searched for cell damage in the lungs of 54 smokers and former smokers who did not have cancer and compared the findings to nine people who had never smoked.

This month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute they reported that 82 percent of the current smokers and 62 percent of the former smokers showed some genetic alterations in their lung tissue. Similar changes were rare among the nonsmokers. The high rate even in former smokers shows that “genetic damage persists even after smoking cessation,” they said.