Yifu Deng of QUT's School of Public Health studied the interplay
between genetics, smoking and the development of Parkinson's
disease with 400 people who had Parkinson's disease and 400
people without it. Dr Deng looked at the genetic background of
individuals in each group for the presence of the CYP2D6 gene,
which had previously been suggested to metabolise the chemical
compounds found in cigarette smoke, in both groups. He found
that smokers with the gene who metabolised the cigarette smoke
compounds quickly were less likely to be protected than those
who metabolised the chemical compounds more slowly. "It seems
that if the chemical compounds stay in the body longer they are
more likely to have a preventative effect," Dr Deng said. "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." Dr Deng
said it was not known how the cigarette smoke compounds
protected against Parkinson's. He warned that there were still
many smokers who suffered from Pa