Second-hand smoking

According to the World Health Organization, the Surgeon General United States and several other organizations, environmental tobacco smoke, or so-called "second-hand smoking" is the cause of a number of serious diseases, such as lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease in children.

These organizations have concluded that there is no safe level of data on environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), so the most effective way to protect him from smoking - a ban on smoking in public places.

Risks associated with exposure to environmental cigarettes smoke on health have been studied in epidemiological studies. These studies are mainly conducted using polling methods. The data obtained were compared the incidence of diseases such as lung cancer among non-smoking women whose husbands were smokers, and among non-smoking women whose husbands did not smoke.

The results of extensive studies of lung cancer showed that the relative risk of disease associated with prolonged exposure to ETS nonsmokers is estimated at 1.3. Relative risk at 1 indicates no risk, while heavy smoking for a long period of time, usually associated with a relative risk of lung cancer by about level 20 and above.

Speaking of heart disease, research shows that the relative risk of disease associated with prolonged exposure to ETS non-smoker, is estimated at about 1.3. Relative risk of heart disease with active smoking is generally estimated to be between 3 and 5.

Many epidemiologists believe that the relative risk below 2 indicates a weak relationship between the disease and its source. As a rule, this risk is difficult to measure as compared to the higher degree of risk. Possibly due to the fact that the level of relative risk measured in the individual studies, usually below 2, many studies do not reach statistical significance.

Study of respiratory diseases in children whose parents smoke, and the effect of passive smoking on the aggravation of symptoms in people with respiratory conditions like asthma, suggest that ETS may increase the risk of respiratory diseases in children, as well as to influence the course of development pre-existing conditions such as asthma.

Published: Wednesday, November 28, 2012