Although it is known that the passive smoking has harmful effects on the lungs and vascular system, it is not yet clear whether exposure to cigarette smoke in childhood results in consequences in adulthood. In order to get to the bottom of it, researchers from theAmerican Cancer Society, conducted a large-scale study for 22 years. Their results appeared in theAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine.
For this study, 70,900 non-smoking adults, aged between 50 and 74 years, volunteered in 1992. They first answered questions about their exposure to cigarette smoke during childhood and in childhood. adulthood, then were followed until 2014. During this period, there were 25,899 deaths. The researchers then examined the associations between passive smoking in children and adults, as well as deaths from coronary heart disease, Stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Non-smokers remain victims of tobacco
Those who reported living with a smoker as a child (at least 16 years) had a 31% higher risk of dying from COPD. According to the researchers, this represents 7 additional deaths from COPD each year, per 100,000 non-smoker inhabitants. Moreover, although the study only counted deaths, this suggests that secondhand smoke could also be responsible for non-fatal COPD.
In addition, in adults who were exposed to cigarette smoke at least 10 hours per week (with a smoking spouse for example), the risk of death from all causes was 9% higher. More seriously, the risk of coronary heart disease was increased by 27%, that of stroke by 23%, and finally, the risk of death from COPD was increased by 42%.
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