If you get a serious infection with a superbug, your life may be in danger because these bacteria can resist treatment of any kind. But you should know there’s a common environmental toxin that makes these bugs more aggressive and dangerous.
When it comes to superbugs, one of the deadliest and toughest to treat is a critter named methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This pathogen can lead to life-threatening blood, skin, bloodstream and surgical infections as well as pneumonia.
A study at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that cigarette smoke makes MRSA’s super powers even more lethal, helping them become more resistant to the body’s immune system defenses.
“We already know that smoking cigarettes harms human respiratory and immune cells, and now we’ve shown that, on the flipside, smoke can also stress out invasive bacteria and make them more aggressive,” says researcher Laura E. Crotty Alexander.
In lab tests, the scientists discovered that macrophages, immune cells that, like cellular Pac men, engulf and consume invading infectious organisms, have a harder time conquering MRSA that have been exposed to chemicals from cigarette smoke.
The reason: After the macrophages sucked in MRSA and tried to detroy the bacteria, the cigarette-exposed bugs did not readily succumb to the anti-pathogen ammunition wielded by the macrophages. The MRSA resisted death from reactive oxygen species (a type of chemical weapon unleashed by macrophages) and were less vulnerable to antimicrobial peptides, small protein fragments that are supposed to poke death-dealing holes in the cell walls of the MRSA.
Furthermore, in the tests, the super powers of the superbugs got more super the more cigarette smoke they had been exposed to.
“Cigarette smokers are known to be more susceptible to infectious diseases. Now we have evidence that cigarette smoke-induced resistance in MRSA may be an additional contributing factor,” says Alexander.
So when it comes to cigarette smoke, what doesn’t quite kill you can make superbugs stronger. And then, if you’re not careful, those little villains may kill you before smoking does.
If you’re looking to quit, research tells us that a gradual approach is best. It’s good to set a target date to stop so that you can plan to get the support of friends and family, decide what “trigger” situations to avoid, and research places to go where smoking isn’t allowed, which all help people successfully quit.
