 
Burning questions Susan Murin likes to study the effects of smoking and cancer - but not in the way most researchers do. An epidemiologist and pulmonology physician at UC Davis Medical Center, Murin likes to study the lesser-known effects of cigarette smoking. For example, did you know that smokers who get chicken pox are more likely to develop pneumonia? "Chicken pox is a very serious disease in adults, and it can be fatal to those who develop a type of pneumonia specific to chicken pox," Murin points out. "This occurs more often in smokers." Or how about this: Smokers exposed to tuberculosis are more likely to develop active or latent disease. Latent disease occurs when you've been exposed to tuberculosis seriously enough that your cells have reacted to it. Evidence of this is a positive skin reactivity test, also known as a PPD. Active disease is when tuberculosis overpowers the immune system, making the person who is carrying it sick.
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Does smoking make breast cancer more dangerous? Susan Murin thinks so. |
