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In research described as "a stark warning" to those tempted to start smoking, scientists are reporting that cigarette smoke begins to cause genetic damage within MINUTES–not years–after inhalation into the lungs.

And there is growing evidence that exposure to a group of chemicals known as type-2 alkenes–found in many different sources, including the smoke inhaled from cigarettes, the exhaust of automobiles and even the steam from French fries–can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
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Recently, the book “Why French Women Don’t Get Fat” was exposed as a fraud because critics said that all French women smoke and smoking elevates your metabolism, as well as being a substitute for food, causing you to stay slim. Now we know this isn’t true. But what about nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke? New studies show that exposure to cigarette smoke raises the risk among teens of getting metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with excess belly fat that increases the chances of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
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Lower-class “bad guys” smoke more often in movies than wealthy movie heroes. But maybe this is just an imitation of life: New evidence shows that the same genes may foster two harmful proclivities–nicotine addiction and aggressively hostile behavior.

Smoking is not more common in movies than in the general US population. Dr. Karan Omidvari says, “Most investigators have concluded that smoking is portrayed as glamorous and positive, but our study shows that the exact opposite is true. Additionally, different studies in the past have subjectively concluded that movies are attempting to influence different groups of minorities to smoke. We have contradicted these findings as well.”
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It’s been discovered that nonsmokers who spent only four hours in a smoky Las Vegas casino had elevated levels of a cancer-causing agent called NNAL in their urine. Their urine also contained elevated levels of cotinine, which is a byproduct of nicotine. Both these chemicals only come from tobacco.

In abcnews.com, Marc Lallanilla quotes epidemiologist Robert West as saying, “This evidence could be dynamite. It is one thing to know that one is breathing in carcinogens; psychologically it is another to know that one’s own body has been contaminated by them.”
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