Second hand tobacco-smoke dangerous than high cholesterol:

Jojy Cheriyan MD; MPH-March 08,2013

Second hand smoke is a curse to innocent non-smokers or never-smokers. All civilized countries have banned smoking in public places to protect the health of the people. But smoking in private places (houses, private vehicles etc) still continues to be a threat to the lives of nonsmokers/never-smokers since they take in second hand smoke from a smoker, in their circle of family and friends.

A new imaging study (CT scan) finds that the risk of arteries getting clogged is greater from second hand smoke than high cholesterol. We know that clogged arteries increase the chances of deadly heart diseases. This study has just been reported online in the Journal of American College of Cardiology-Cardiovascular Imaging 2013( JACC-Cardiovascular Imaging).

The overall prevalence of coronary artery plaque (i.e plaque in the blood vessels of heart) was 24% more among those exposed to second hand smoke and it even increases to 26% among those with highest exposure, when compared to general public.

Those with the highest amount of exposure to passive smoke were 90% more likely to have coronary plaque compared with the general public.

The chance of developing heart attack from second hand smoke was also greater than other risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and renal disease.

Although previous studies have shown a marked increase in cardiac events related to secondhand smoke,this study is the first to demonstrate a clear dose-related association between secondhand smoke exposure and the earliest detectable signs of heart disease.

The researchers of this study used data from a lung screening program and compared the scans of smokers with scans of asymptomatic people who had never smoked.

Over 3000 participants were involved in this study with their ages ranging from 40 to 80 ., and everyone underwent a series of low-dose CT scans as part of the lung screening program.

This research provides additional evidence that secondhand smoke is harmful and may be even more dangerous than we previously thought. Researchers of this study also recommend inquiring about second hand smoke exposure as a part of routine medical exam.

This study will be presented in the American College of Cardiology meeting at San Francisco on March 9,2013.

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