We all know smoking is bad for your health. Cigarette smoking contributes to the deaths of an estimated 443,000 Americans each year. But for those who are trying to quit smoking using medication, there might be more to it than the patch and willpower. A Washington University study has just shown that your genetic make-up can show whether or not medication will help you quit smoking.
According research led by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine, high-risk genetic variations can increase the risk for nicotine dependence, but the same gene variants predict a more robust response to anti-smoking medications. The same gene variations that make it difficult to stop smoking also increase the likelihood that heavy smokers will respond to nicotine-replacement therapy and drugs that thwart cravings.
If a patient possesses those genes, it might be possible to predict whether or not the patient will benefit from drug treatments for nicotine addiction, leading to more personalized and more effective treatments.
“People with the high-risk genetic markers smoked an average of two years longer than those without these high-risk genes, and they were less likely to quit smoking without medication,” first author Li-Shiun Chen, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University, said in a press release. “The same gene variants can predict a person’s response to smoking-cessation medication, and those with the high-risk genes are more likely to respond to the medication.”
