Cigarette after Valentine snuggle deadlier for some
The proverbial cigarette after a Valentine’s Day snuggle can prematurely end a love affair, as new evidence emerges that a common defect in a gene significantly increases a smoker’s risk of an early heart attack. Researchers say that as much as 60 to 70 percent of the population has a gene defect that delivers a one-two punch to smokers: In a recent published study, heavy smokers with this common gene variant experienced a heart attack around the age of 52.
“We’ve all heard the stories: Someone’s great-uncle has smoked three packs of cigarettes since he was 14, and now, at the age of 88, he’s living a fine, healthy life,” said Arthur Moss, M.D., director of the Heart Research Follow-up Program at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “Contrast that with the 52-year old neighbor, who also was a heavy smoker, and just last week, dropped dead from a heart attack. Why is it that some smokers seem unaffected by their habit and even outlive the healthiest individuals, while many other smokers suffer significant cardiac events at a relatively young age? We think we now know why.”
Anxiety Tied to DCIS Patients’ Overestimation of Cancer Risks
Elevated levels of anxiety may cause women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common form of non-invasive breast cancer, to overestimate their risk of recurrence or dying from breast cancer, suggests a study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
“Although DCIS typically is very treatable disease, many women diagnosed with DCIS develop inaccurate risk perceptions,” said Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, the study’s lead author and a breast oncologist at Dana-Farber. “This exaggerated sense of risk needs to be addressed, as it may cause women to make poor treatment choices and adversely affect their emotional well-being and subsequent health behaviors.”
The study’s findings will be published online by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on Feb. 12 and later in a print edition.
