A study connecting 'air pollution' with lung cancer to non -smokers

A new scientific study revealed that air pollution, some types of traditional herbal medicine and other environmental factors can contribute to genetic mutations that lead to lung cancer in people who have never smoked or barely smoked. The study published in the “Nature” journal was led by researchers from the University of California in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of US Health CDC, and is considered one of the first studies that provides direct genomic guide to linking air pollution. Lung cancer has always been associated with smoking; With the low smoke rates worldwide, a relative increase in cases of incidence of non -smokers has been observed, especially among women and Asian origin, and in Asian countries more than their Western counterparts. The lead author of the study, Maria Teresa Landy, a researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at the American National Cancer Institute, says that scientists see a disturbing trend represented in raising non -smokers infection with lung cancer, without fully understanding the matter. The study analyzed samples of lung crops from 871 people who had never smoked, and lived in 28 different regions around the world, from Africa to Asia, Europe and North America. By analyzing the complete genome of these crops, the researchers monitored the patterns of mutations known as “fingerprints”, reflecting the previous exposure to genetic catalysts such as air pollution. The researchers found that individuals who lived in areas with higher air pollution show a greater number of mutations, including mutations known as a ‘stimulating cancer’. For example, they associated an increase in the genetic fingerprint with smoking 3.9 times, and an increase of 76% in the fingerprint associated with age. But the researchers, they made it clear that air pollution does not create a unique impression for it, but rather increases the mutations that fall within the previously known fingerprints, such as those associated with smoking and aging. A cumulative effect of air pollution also monitored the study, a ‘direct relationship’ between raising the pollution levels to which a person is exposed, with an increase in the number of mutations in the crop. Telomers, which are preventative covers at the end of chromosomes, were also shorter, and this is an indication of the acceleration of cell aging. Unlike what was expected, the study did not show a strong genetic link between negative smoking and lung cancer. The crops of non -smokers exposed to passive smoke were not distinctive mutations, but rather a slight increase in the number of mutations and a palace in telomeres. Air pollution in numbers 99% of the world population catches an air that exceeds the boundaries of the guidelines of the World Health Organization. 2.4 billion people are exposed to dangerous levels of homes with homes due to the use of stoves for steel fuel. Global health costs due to pollution up to $ 6 trillion annually. 8.1 million early deaths annually due to air pollution. 1.2 billion working days lacking worldwide worldwide due to air pollution. Less than a third of the countries of the world have monitoring networks or strategies for air quality management. Low -income and medium countries are most affected by air pollution. Air pollution is the second largest risk factor for the early death in the world, after high blood pressure. More than 700,000 deaths among children under the age of 5 were linked to air pollution. The researchers pointed out that it is difficult to accurately measure the impact of negative smoking due to the different exposure to air pollution, duration and distance between the person and the source. In another surprise, the researchers monitored a genetic impression associated with antolosic acid, a carcinogen found in some traditional Chinese herbs. Herbal medicine, and this fingerprint appeared almost only in cases of Taiwan, which is likely to be the possibility of these patients being exposed to the fabric by breathing in herbal medicine, according to the team. This acid was previously associated with kidney, stomach and liver cancer, but this is the first time it has been linked to lung cancer, according to the author of the main study, Maria Teresa Landy, who said that “it arouses a new overall health concern about traditional treatments and gives us the opportunity to give awareness and prevention, especially in Asia.” The scientific team also identified a new genetic print that appeared in most smokers, but it did not appear among smokers. So far, the source of this fingerprint has not been identified, which opens the way for new questions that can take up a map of our understanding of the causes of lung cancer. The researchers intend to expand their studies to include cases of Latin America, the Middle East and other regions in Africa. They also plan to investigate the possible effects of marijuana and electronic cigarettes, especially among young smokers, as well as study other environmental effects such as radon and asbestos, and to collect accurate local air pollution data. “Air pollution not only causes breathing problems, but also leaves real genetic effects that can lead to cancer … and now we have evidence,” said the lead author in the study, Lunelil Alexandrov, a researcher at the University of California.