Cigarette Smoking increase the risk of High Blood Pressure
Usually people feel bad because of their high blood pressure. But scientists found that the risks of developing high blood pressure are cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and lack of exercises.
Nora Franceschini, M.D, lead author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, explained: “What’s new is that we are showing that these behaviors interact with human genes to influence blood pressure levels. The most interesting study finding is that the impressionability to hypertension in your genetic background doesn’t mean that your lifestyle exposures do not matter, they do. Drinking, smoking and exercise habits can be modified, which would, in turn, influence the risk of developing hypertension, even in people who are predisposed to the condition.”
The researchers analyzed data on 3,665 participants, ages 14 to 93, from large, multigenerational families inhabited in Arizona, North and South Dakota, and Oklahoma to find how inherited genetic patterns vary among those with different lifestyles and educational levels.
Statistics show the following findings:
• Clear evidence of cigarette use and gene interaction (comparing smokers to never smokers) on diastolic blood pressure;
• Evidence that blood pressure among drinkers is affected by different genes than in former and never drinkers;
• Evidence that an individual’s physical activity level influences the genetic effects on blood pressure.
The new study examined also the usual effect of multiple genes tied to hypertension risk, and it demonstrated that behaviors can influence the effects of genes on blood pressure. Among the American Indians studied, approximately 15 percent of the variation in diastolic blood pressure was due to genes.
Franceschini reported: “So your level of blood pressure is influenced by your genes, whether you are a smoker or not, are physically active or not, or drink alcohol or not. But those habits can still influence a person’s susceptibility to the disease.”
Scientists concluded that people can eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and exercise regularly, but healthy behavior means little if they continue to smoke.
The message that ’smoking is bad for you’ is an old one, so not everyone gives it their full attention, and this is very bad.
