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Gene explains smoking,ink March 7, 2006 - 7:19AM A gene may explain why smoking protects some people against Parkinson's disease, new research shows. Brisbane-based epidemiologist Yifu Deng said he was researching links between genetics, smoking and the development of Parkinson's disease as part of an ongoing study. Dr Deng said he looked at the CYP2D6 gene - known to metabolise the chemical compounds found in cigarette smoke - among 400 Queenslanders with Parkinson's disease and another 400 people without it. The study revealed smokers with a version of the gene which metabolised cigarette smoke compounds slowly were more likely to be protected against the disease than those who metabolised the chemical compounds quickly. "It seems that if the chemical compounds stay in the body longer they are more likely to have a preventative effect," said Dr Deng, from the Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) School of Public Health. "It also seems that if you have the gene but you are not a smoker the gene may have no use in preventing Parkinson's." But it was not known how the compounds protected against Parkinson's - a common degenerative neurological disease among the elderly which affected up to 4.9 per cent Australians aged 55 and over, Dr Deng said. "There is the potential to find some chemical compound in cigarette smoke that might be able to prevent Parkinson's or delay its onset," Dr Deng said. However, he warned many smokers still suffered Parkinson's. A Queensland Cancer Fund spokesman also said the negatives health impacts of cigarette smoking far outweighed any positives associated with suppressing Parkinson's. "You need to look at relative risks - smoking is the largest single cause of preventable death and disease in Australia," the spokesman said. "Whatever the effect for a small number of Parkinson's patients, people should realise they are at a much greater risk of dying from lung cancer or another tobacco-related disease if they smoke than they are of developing Parkinson's." He said smoking killed 50 Australians daily and of the 20 per cent of Australians who smoked, half would die prematurely. Dr Deng said his study with the Parkinson's research group, involving researchers from QUT and the University of Queensland, was committed to finding "metabolic pathways" that reduced or prevented the disease's crippling symptoms, including involuntarily trembling, rigid and stiff muscles. © 2006 AAP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn