Passive smoke increases heart risk by 45 per cent

[RedEarth]

PEOPLE who regularly breathe in second hand cigarette smoke either at home or in work are almost one and a half times more likely to suffer a heart attack, new research warns today. And if current trends in smoking continues, a billion people will die this century from tobacco-related illnesses, say scientists.

All forms of tobacco exposure — smoking, chewing or passive smoking — increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to three times.

The worldwide Interheart study of more than 27,000 people across fifty two countries found smokers had a three fold higher risk of a heart attack compared with those who had never smoked. Even those with relatively low levels of exposure of between eight and ten cigarettes a day doubled their risk of heart attack.

The Canadian team also found exposure to second hand smoke increased the risk of heart attack in both former and
non smokers.

The findings, published in The Lancet, suggest that individuals with the highest levels of exposure to passive smoking of 22 hours or more a week may increase their risk of heart attack by about 45%. But the researchers did find that the risk of heart attack dropped with time after stopping smoking. Among light smokers who used fewer than ten cigarettes a day there was no excess risk three to five years after quitting.

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=HC1728158X&news_headline=passive_smoking_increases_heart_risk_by_45_per_cent

[dipsydoodle]

1. Given that the risk to smokers must therefore be even higher

and smokers must also be passive smokers it follows that the risk to smokers must be c.100 %.
However - facts don't bear that out.

[peacetalksforall]

2. This news won't make any impression on obnoxious, inconsiderate

smokers who would just as soon light up and tell you to go to hell then consider science.

The children. The children. We won't let them smoke, we won't let them run into streets, we won't let them talk to strangers ... but we set up their heart for long range health problems.

Image - guy and his daughter are walking down the street laughing and talking. Daughter asks to ride on his shoulders. Guy holds cigarette in his mouth, lifts daughter, holds both her hands, and keeps on smoking.

[leesa]

3. I sure know it makes me tachycardic even if I smell it from outside a

window. Powerful drug, that is.