Besides lung cancer, which is caused by smoking and is often fatal, recent study found an association between Y chromosome loss and a shorter life span, as well as a higher risk of multiple cancers.
Male smokers are three times more likely than non-smoking men to lose their Y chromosomes, a new study has found.
In a study in the journal Science, researchers at Sweden's Uppsala University found that Y chromosomes, which are important for sex determination and sperm production, more often disappear from blood cells of smokers than those of men who have never smoked or of men who have kicked the habit.
In a study in the journal Science, researchers at Sweden's Uppsala University found that Y chromosomes, which are important for sex determination and sperm production, more often disappear from blood cells of smokers than those of men who have never smoked or of men who have kicked the habit.
Since only men have Y chromosomes, the finding offers a possible answer to why smoking is a greater risk factor for cancer among men than women.
Women have two X chromosomes; males have an X and a Y.
'There is a correlation between a common and avoidable risk factor, that is smoking, and the most common human mutation -- loss of the Y chromosome,' said Jan Dumanski, an Uppsala professor who worked on the study.
'This ... may in part explain why men in general have a shorter life span than women and why smoking is more dangerous for men.
'This discovery could be very persuasive for motivating smokers to quit.'
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