Lifetime Smokers With Healthy Lungs Could Have Mutant DNA

People who smoked cigarettes all their lives but still have healthy lungs have mutations in their DNA, a study has revealed.

Scientists at the Medical Research Council said that, in rare cases, lifetime smokers appear to have healthy lungs because of favourable mutations in DNA-enhanced lung function.

Its study of 50,000 people could lead to the development of new drugs to improve lung function. However, the best way to be ensure health is by avoiding smoking altogether, the study said.

The data was collected by the UK Biobank project and researchers examined Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which causes coughing and lack of breath and is believed to affect three million people in Britain.

Scientists identified parts of DNA that reduce the risk of COPD after comparing smokers and non-smokers.

However, Professor Martin Tobin, a researcher from the University of Leicester, told the BBC: “There doesn’t appear to be any kind of magic bullet that would give anyone guaranteed protection against tobacco smoke - they would still have lungs that were unhealthier than they would be had they been a non-smoker.

“The strongest thing that people can do to affect their future health in terms of COPD and also smoking-related disease like cancer and heart disease is to stop smoking.”

The study was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

(Picture: Rex)