A recent study found higher androgen and estrogen levels in postmenopausal women who smoke than in nonsmoking postmenopausal women.
Studies in the past have shown potential risk factors for breast and endometrial cancer as well as type 2 diabetes include high levels of estrogens and androgens, yet investigating the correlation between smoking and sex hormone levels has produced inconsistent results. Now, this new cross-sectional study suggests that, in postmenopausal women, sex hormones may be one such channel through which cigarette smoking influences chronic disease risk.
“The observed increase in sex hormone levels with cigarette use suggests that tobacco smoke, apart from its direct toxic and carcinogenic effects, may also influence chronic disease risk through hormonal mechanisms,” said Judith Brand, MSc, of University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands and lead author of the study. “The good news is that the effect of cigarette smoking appears reversible, as an almost immediate reduction in sex hormone levels was seen in women who quit using cigarettes.”
The study included 2030 postmenopausal women aged 55 to 81 years. Based on their answers to questions concerning cigarette use, participants were classified as current, former, or never smokers. Researchers examined blood samples and found that current smokers had higher circulating levels of androgens and estrogens. Those categorized as former smokers (those who had quit within 1-2 years of the study) had the same sex hormone levels as the never smokers.
“Obviously, quitting smoking has major health benefits such as prevention of cancer, respiratory and heart diseases,” said Brand. “Our research suggests that smoking cessation may have additional effects by modifying hormone-related disease risks, but this was not the subject of the present study and requires further investigation.”
The article, Cigarette Smoking and Endogenous Sex Hormones in Postmenopausal Women, appears in the October 2011 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Source: The Endocrine Society.