Smoking May Cause Men to Lose Their Y Chromosome
Its been understood that as men grow older they begin to lose their Y chromosome from their body cells. Initially thought to be a normal cause of aging, however, recent studies show that loss of the Y chromosome is not something to be content with. Earlier this year, researchers linked the loss of the Y chromosome to a shorter life-span and increased risk of cancer, which could be fatal. Now it has been observed that men who smoke show to have less Y chromosomes in their blood cells than non-smokers do. Lars Forsberg of Uppsala University explains that this could explain why male smokers develop cancer more frequently than female smokers. This is not a closed case however, because there are observed cases where smokers have no loss of Y chromosome and non-smokers do, so other instances can occur. This information also suggests that the Y chromosome may have other uses, rather than just determining sex, such as suppressing tumors. Hypotheses have been created on the function of the Y chromosome in regards to cancer from controlling the surveillance of cells for cancer to simply acting as a marker for the defenses of tumors. Although the significance of the Y chromosome related to cancer is not yet understood what is important to note is that those who did smoke were two to four times more likely to be losing their Y chromosome, and therefore two to four more times likely to develop cancer.
I found this article interesting because there has always been a correlation of smoking to cancer, usually of the lungs, but now it can be understood that it could affect the whole body. This provides further information for those who constantly hear that smoking causes cancer but disregard or do not believe it.Also, To understand how it can cause cancer can also be used for methods of preventing and treating the growth of tumors. The fact that smoking men were more susceptible to cancer than smoking women was also a an intriguing fact that I did not know.
After seeing this, I did the same article. I thought this was interesting find. With this, smokers can be warned of the research of y chromosome. Because I think with Y chromosome disappearing, it may bring some serious medical issues.
ReplyDeleteThis is similar to the article I created. I'm only assuming that the researchers had to focus their attention on the white blood cells since it appears those are the only cells that have a nucleus that are found in the blood.
ReplyDelete