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Differences found in men and women who start to smoke

Respiratory Care Weekly, June 28, 2006

Women are more likely to start smoking due to environmental factors, while genetic factors seem to influence men to start, according to a twin study published in the June Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. The study examined 32,000 pairs of twins and discovered among either gender, that genes played a similar part in a smoker's ability to quit.

"Heritability, which reflects factors related to genetic effects, was stronger in men; however, among men who communicated with each other at least weekly, the heritable effect was reduced," said Ann Hamilton, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and lead author on the study. "This may indicate that the heritable effect in men could be overestimated or able to be affected by environmental factors."

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