As of: March 1, 2024, 1:28 p.m
By: Fabian Hartmann, Kilian Bäuml
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A long-term study reveals: Smoking has long-term effects on the immune system.
The consequences are still noticeable even years after you quit.
Kassel – It is well known that smoking is harmful to health.
It not only affects the lungs and respiratory system, but also the brain.
However, a recent finding is that smoking has a long-term negative impact on the immune system - perhaps even years after former smokers have given up the habit.
At least this is what a current long-term study by an international research team recently
published in the journal
Nature suggests.
Accordingly, smoking cigarettes has a similarly strong influence on the human immune system as age and genes.
In a new study, researchers found out how much smoking has a lasting effect on the body.
(Symbolic image) © Sven Hoppe/dpa
Smoking and the immune system: New findings from a long-term study
The study, led by France's Pasteur Institute, examined the effects of 136 environmental factors on the immune responses of a total of 1,000 healthy adults.
The researchers mainly focused on socio-demographic aspects, dietary habits and the lifestyle of the test subjects.
A particular focus was on the release of so-called cytokines, coordinating messenger substances that are released during an immune reaction when pathogens invade the human body.
Cytokines activate certain immune cells and thus influence inflammatory processes, the proliferation of bacteria and the development of cancer.
The researchers analyzed the production of 13 cytokines in blood samples exposed to a total of twelve different immune stimuli.
These stimulations triggered reactions in both parts of the immune system.
The human immune system consists of an innate and generally reactive part and an acquired part that is based on modifiable influences such as diseases and vaccinations and therefore reacts more pathogen-specifically.
Smoking does more harm than expected: New study reveals long-term effects on the immune system
Of all the factors examined, smoking had the greatest impact on the immune system.
This effect was stronger the longer and the more cigarettes the test subjects smoked per day, as study leader Darragh Duffy explained to the
Tagesspiegel
.
However, the effects of smoking on the innate part of the immune system were temporary and disappeared as soon as smoking was stopped.
They manifested themselves mainly in the form of inflammatory reactions.
However, the acquired part of the immune response was more influenced by smoking tobacco products: according to the researchers, it significantly changed the number of cytokines that the immune system releases during infections.
And especially in the long term.
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Long-term effects of smoking: How cigarettes affect our immune system
The researchers believe that these effects persist years after quitting smoking.
Violaine Saint-André, who was also involved in the study, examines why this is the case.
They believe that the long-term effects of smoking on T cells are due to changes in DNA methylation.
These are chemical marks on DNA that influence the activity of genes.
Another study also shows how dangerous smoking really is, in which it was shown that pets are even endangered by passive smoking.
“There is more methylation in current and former smokers than in people who have never smoked.
The effect increases with the years and the number of cigarettes,” says the study author.
This also means that smoking less helps.
However, the methylations persist for years, even if you stop smoking.
Therefore, people who smoke for years or have smoked for years should always be careful and have their health checked regularly.
Research on smoking: Fewer and fewer people are turning to cigarettes
Researchers are increasingly understanding the many aspects of smoking, but recommendations are not changing.
“It is never good to start smoking.
And the best time to quit smoking is right now,” advises researcher Darragh Duffy, who was involved in the study.
The first author, Violaine Saint-André, also warned young people in a press conference: “Never start smoking,” she emphasized.
But this is certainly not only beneficial for your health.
Smokers could also benefit financially from quitting, as the high prices for cigarettes are intended to deter people from buying them.
In recent years, several studies have shown that fewer and fewer people still smoke.
However, a shocking study recently came to the conclusion that, at least in Kassel, more young people are smoking again.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
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