Smoking: It causes more cancers in men than in women

Gentlemen, as we approach the beginning of the year, here's a new reason to take the good resolution to stop smoking. Men are indeed more likely to get lung cancer than women.

According to a new study published in the journal Science, men who smoke have a greater risk of developing lung cancer than women. According to researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden, it could be because smoking reduces the number of Y chromosomes in the blood cells.

Although the precise relationship between the Y chromosome and the cancer is not yet well defined, Y chromosomes are thought to play a role in containing tumors.

6000 men participated in the study that showed that smoking and age are the only factors that accelerate the loss of the Y chromosome Diabetes, cholesterol and alcohol do not seem to have any effect on this chromosome.

Swedish doctors still provide a glimmer of hope to men who are planning to stop smoking: Y chromosomes found their place in blood cells after stopping smoking. The process is reversible. "This discovery could be compelling enough to encourage men to stop smoking," said Dr Lars Forsberg, senior author of the study.

Lung cancer often diagnosed too late

Lung cancer is often diagnosed so late that it is difficult to treat. So, one patient in three dies within 90 days after being supported for this disease. In France, with around 37,000 new cases per year (27,000 men and 10,000 women), lung cancer is in fourth place of the most common cancers behind those of the prostate, breast and colon. It is the first cancer in terms of mortality.