Nature Podcast

Smoking changes your immune system, even years after quitting

Feb 14, 2024

Smoking's long-term effects on immunity, T-cell response lingers after quitting; Purple smoke from ancient gold explosive, altruistic act by a male elephant seal; Tracking fake papers through authorship analysis; Discovery of ocean on a moon of Saturn

21:35

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Quick takeaways

Smoking has long-lasting effects on the immune system, particularly on T cell responses, even years after quitting.

A new authorship analysis method can help identify fake papers, providing a solution to the ongoing problem of fraudulent research.

Deep dives

Long-Lasting Effects of Smoking on Immunity

New research reveals that smoking has long-lasting effects on the immune system, even years after quitting. Smoking impacts the inflammatory response to bacteria, but this effect is lost after quitting. However, the impact on T cell responses is maintained, even many years after quitting smoking. The study also found associations between smoking and other factors like cytomegalovirus infection and BMI that affect immune responses. Understanding these effects can shed light on various diseases that may be impacted by smoking.

Introduction

2min

Impact of Smoking on Immune System

9min

Discovery of a Buried Ocean on a Moon of Saturn

4min

Formation of Mimus's Ocean and Identifying Fake Papers

5min

Identifying and Tackling Fake Academic Papers

4min

00:45 Smoking's long-term effects on immunity

It's well-known that smoking is bad for health and it has been linked to several autoimmune disorders, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Now, researchers have investigated the immune responses of 1,000 people. Whilst some effects disappear after quitting, impacts on the T cell response lingers long after. The team hopes that this evidence could help better understand smoking's association with autoimmune diseases.

Research article: Saint-André et al.

News and Views: Smoking’s lasting effect on the immune system