Genetic Factors influence Addictiveness of Cigarettes

There might be a reason some people can quit smoking cold turkey, while others feel that the only place cold turkey belongs is on a sandwich. A recent study by the University of Colorado Boulder showed that genetic factors determine how difficult it can be to quit smoking. The study also said that these genetic factors are more influential now than in the past, but regardless, the genetics explain why some people just can’t quit. The study used adult identical twins who share an almost identical genetic structure, as compared with fraternal twins who do not. The study showed that adult identical twins are significantly more likely to quit smoking at the same time compared with fraternal twins. The researchers examined the smoking patterns of 596 pairs of twins, 363 of them identical and 233 of them fraternal. They discovered that 65 percent of the identical twins actually quit smoking with a two-year period of each other. That is a higher percentage compared to the 55 percent of fraternal twins who did the same. Researchers said that the discovery suggests a genetic component at play since identical twins also share the same DNA. The researchers examined smoking patterns from 1960 to 1980 because they wanted to focus on a period when social views and public policy towards smoking changed. Fred Pampel, a co-author of the study, said that genetic influence has increased in importance among smokers following the initial anti-smoking legislation that passed in the 1970s. He also said that since there are indications that the genetic component is growing, it may be time to treat smoking more like an addiction than a choice.