Ex-smokers even decades later, there is a risk of developing diseases.
Scientists from Harvard medical school have found that Smoking causes long-term changes in gene activity.
Experts analyzed blood samples from participants in the various studies that were conducted until 1971. Scientists have studied the data from their questionnaires, where patients reported how they had a diet whether they smoked, did a healthy lifestyle and what they had of the disease.
Found that many smokers had changes in methylation that affect the activity of seven thousand of genes associated with heart disease and the formation of cancerous tumors. Those who quit Smoking, most of the DNA returned to normal in about five years, but some changes in 19 genes (including TIAM2, influencing the development of lymphoma), remained for 30 years.
According to scientists, this suggests that ex-smokers even decades later, there is a risk of development of diseases such as some cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke.
