Study Background

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States, which translates to causing nearly one of every five deaths. Although the health impacts of smoking, such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, cancer, and reduced fertility are well-documented, the goal of the E-Cigs and Smoking Study is to develop new biomarkers of tobacco smoke exposure or e-cigarette use. The biomarkers will be based on analysis of DNA methylation, which is the addition of methyl groups to DNA and is one of several epigenetic processes that occur in cells.