Get this... a test of your toenail clippings can tell what your lung cancer risk from exposure to cigarettes, even if you're not a smoker! This is the result of testing toenail clippings of 210 men diagnosed with lung cancer, plus 630 men used as disease free controls. The toenail clippings used for this research were donated by medical professionals taking part in the study. Why use toenails, of all things? The researchers were trying to find a way to measure exposure to secondhand smoke. They tried measuring nicotine levels in hair, but when researchers discovered toenail clippings from study participants they thought they may be useful. Since hair and toenails form from the same type of tissue, it might be possible to analyze them for nicotine. Toenails represent your nicotine exposure of the last year, and have the advantage of not needing any special storage arrangements. Toenails grow fastest in young people and men, and for us all during the summer months. Amazingly, the team found that nicotine levels in toenails are a reliable gauge of smoking status up to 6 years before the clippings were given. They are also able to predict heart disease risk in women. Females who had the highest nicotine levels in their toenails had a 42% greater chance of heart disease compared with those at the lowest nicotine levels. The 20% of clippings with the highest levels of nicotine showed men at the greatest risk of developing lung cancer. They had a 10.5 times greater chance of this form of cancer compared with the 20% of participants who had the lowest amount of nicotine in their clippings. Even when accounting for smoking, men with the highest nicotine levels in the toenail had 3.5 times more risk of being diagnosed with lung cancer compared to those with the least amount of toenail nicotine. As cancers go, cancer of the lung is one of the deadliest types for men and women. More die from lung cancer than cancer of the breast, colon and prostate combined. Most common in older people, this cancer is rare under 45 years old. We know for certain that smoking cigarettes is the leading cause of lung cancer. A cause that can be prevented by never starting the habit, and avoiding sources of secondhand smoke. Researchers now believe we have a valuable way to measure a patients' exposure and predict lung cancer risk, whether you smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoke. Amazing that exposure to either kind of smoke can be detected all through your body, right down to your toes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6212612
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