hamburger icon
A
अ
Read in Hindi
  • Home
  • News
  • Do you smoke around your kids? You're putting their heart in danger!

Do you smoke around your kids? You're putting their heart in danger!

WrittenBy

Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : March 6, 2014 10:41 AM IST

thehealthsite.com top news

smoking indian maleDo you smoke when your kids are around? It's time to change your habits as exposure to passive smoking can increase risks of heart attacks and strokes in your children at later ages, a study said. The team of researchers from Tasmania, Australia and Finland found that exposure to smoking in childhood thickens arteries' walls which, in turn, ups the risks of heart attack and stroke.

'The study shows that exposure to passive smoke in childhood causes a direct and irreversible damage to the structure of the arteries,' said Seana Gall, research fellow at the Menzies Research Institute, Tasmania, and University of Tasmania. The 3,776 children who participated in the research were aged between three and 18 at the start of the studies. The researchers asked questions about parents' smoking habits and they used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the children's artery walls once they had reached adulthood. (Read: Kids exposed to second-hand smoke at higher risk of tooth decay)

The researchers found that carotid intima-media thickness, a measurement of the thickness of the innermost two layers of the arterial wall, in adulthood was 0.015 mm thicker in those exposed to both parents smoking than in those whose parents did not smoke. The study published in the European Heart Journal, however, did not show an effect if only one parent smoked. 'We think that the effect was only apparent with both parents smoking because of the greater overall dose of smoke these children were exposed to,' said Gall. (Read: Smoking can cause changes in your genes!)

Also Read

Second-hand or passive smoking is almost as dangerous as active smoking. According to WHO, passive smoking causes 600,000 deaths every year. Here are 10 facts you should know about about passive smoking:

  1. Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis and water pipes. Everyone is exposed to its harmful effects.
  2. Guidelines to Article 8 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control state that there is "no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke". Creating 100% smoke-free environments is the only way to protect people from the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke.
  3. Second-hand smoke causes 600,000 premature deaths per year. There are more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer.
  4. In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.
  5. Separate or ventilated smoking areas do not protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoke can spread from a smoking area to a non-smoking area, even if the doors between the two areas are closed and even if ventilation is provided. Only 100% smoke-free environments provide effective protection.
  6. About 40% of all children are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home. Thirty-one per cent of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke occur in children.
  7. Youths exposed to second-hand smoke at home are one-and-a-half to two times more likely to start smoking than those not exposed.
  8. Ten per cent of the economic costs related to tobacco use are attributable to second-hand smoke. Tobacco use imposes both direct economic costs on society, such as those associated with treating tobacco-related diseases and indirect costs, such as those associated with reduced productivity or lost wages because of death or illness.
  9. More than 94% of people are unprotected by smoke-free laws. However, in 2008 the number of people protected from second-hand smoke by such laws increased by 74% to 362 million from 208 million in 2007. Of the 100 most populous cities, 22 are smoke-free.
  10. Through the tobacco control package called MPOWER, WHO helps countries to implement the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to protect people from second-hand smoke.

To know more about the health hazards of smoking, visit our quit smoking section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.

Add The Health Site as a Preferred Source Add The Health Site as a Preferred Source
Editorial Team

Editorial Team

... Read More