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