Cigar damages your DNA in minutes

• April 19, 2024

The cigars begin to destroy the DNA of the smoker in a matter of minutes after inhaling the smoke, suggest new studies. This causes a genetic damage and increases in the short term the risk of suffering Cancer.

The Dr. Stephen S. Hech t Masonic Cancer Center from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, noted that the results should serve as a warning to those who are considering starting smoke.

The research focused on a type of cancer generators called Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , a type of chemical compound also known as PAH in its acronym in English.

The PAHs cause DNA damage and therefore are believed to play an important role in generating lung cancer, a type of cancer that kills more than 3 thousand people a day in the world, usually for smoking.

Hecht and his team tagged and followed a single PAH in the bodies of 12 smoking volunteers. The results found that the PAH quickly transformed into a toxin , causing havoc in the smoker's DNA in the next 15 to 30 minutes after inhaling the tobacco .

The study published its results in the scientific journalChemical Research in Toxicology.