Smoking and Bad Gene – Recipe for Early Heart Attacks

Cigarette smokers face multiple health risks on account of their habit… and new research has come up with a finding that might just compound their worries. A study by researchers at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry suggests that smokers face a greater risk of an early heart attack compared to non-smokers if they are carrying a defective gene.

The knowledge about smoking and heart disease being connected is not new – researchers have known about it for decades. However, there was no clear cause-effect relationship available. Now researchers led by Dr. Ilan Goldberg have solved this puzzle with their study, findings of which have been published in the Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology.

The researchers worked on a suspicion that both smoking and a gene involved in controlling the breakdown of cholesterol might be responsible for lowering the level of high-density lipoprotein or the “good” cholesterol and thereby causing heart attacks.

Based on this assumption, the research team looked at 814 people who had experienced their first heart attack. The population contained both smoking and non-smoking members. The researchers found that smokers who carried a defective version of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene suffered their first heart attack eight to nine years earlier than non-smokers.

The surprising part was that smokers in whom the gene was healthy did not have attacks any sooner than non-smokers; the researchers found smokers to be only three years ahead. The study clearly indicated that the combination of smoking with the dodgy form of the CETP gene substantially increased the risk of early heart attacks.

“Since the frequency of this ‘bad’ gene in the general population is about 60%, many people who smoke have a high risk of experiencing a heart attack at a young age,” said Dr. Goldberg, who is also with Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel. “This finding should increase awareness for smoking cessation,” he claimed.

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