Passive smoking ‘ages children’s arteries’: Exposure means youngsters are at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes in later life

Passive smoking ‘ages
children’s arteries’:
Exposure means
youngsters are at greater
risk of heart attacks and
strokes in later life
Researchers estimate second-hand smoke in the
home adds an extra 3.3 years to the age of blood
vessels by the time the children grow up
Children whose parents smoke are at risk of permanent
damage to their arteries, researchers have warned.
A study suggests that exposure to both parents smoking
leads to thickening of the artery walls, meaning the
children will be at greater risk of heart attacks and
strokes in later life.
And the researchers estimated that the increased level
of second-hand smoke in the home adds an extra 3.3
years to the age of blood vessels by the time the
children grow up.
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High risk: A study suggests that exposure to parents
smoking leads to thickening of the artery walls,
meaning the children will be at greater risk of heart
attacks and strokes in later life
The study involved 2,401 children from Finland and
1,375 children in Australia, aged between three and 18.
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.
The study is the first to follow children through to
adulthood in order to examine the association between
exposure to parental smoking and increased carotid
intima-media thickness (IMT) – a measurement of the
thickness of the innermost two layers of the arterial
wall – in adulthood.
The researchers found that carotid IMT in adulthood
was 0.015 mm thicker in those exposed to both parents
smoking than in those whose parents did not smoke,
increasing from an average of 0.637 mm to 0.652 mm.
Dr Seana Gall, a research fellow in cardiovascular
epidemiology at the Menzies Research Institute
Tasmania and the University of Tasmania, said ‘While
the differences in artery thickness are modest, it is
important to consider that they represent the
independent effect of a single measure of exposure –
that is, whether or not the parents smoked at the start
of the studies – some 20 years earlier in a group
already at greater risk of heart disease.
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Researchers asked questions about parents smoking
habits andused ultrasound to measure the thickness of
the children’s artery walls once they had reached
adulthood
‘For example, those with both parents smoking were
more likely, as adults, to be smokers or overweight
than those whose parents didn’t smoke.
‘Our study shows that exposure to passive smoke in
childhood causes a direct and irreversible damage to
the structure of the arteries.
‘Parents, or even those thinking about becoming
parents, should quit smoking. This will not only restore
their own health but also protect the health of their
children into the future.’
The researchers estimated passive smoking led to an
increase of 3.3 years in the age of arteries by the time
the children become adults.
They took account of factors such as education, the
children’s smoking habits, physical activity, and
cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure and
cholesterol levels in adulthood.
The study did not show an effect if only one parent
smoked, says a report in the European Heart Journal
(must credit).
Dr Gall said ‘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.
‘We can speculate that the smoking behaviour of
someone in a house with a single adult smoking is
different.
For example, the parent that smokes might do so
outside away from the family, therefore reducing the
level of passive smoking.’
Doireann Maddock, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British
Heart Foundation, said ‘The negative health effects of
passive smoking are well known, but this study goes a
step further and shows it can cause potentially
irreversible damage to children’s arteries and could
increase their risk of heart attack and stroke in later
life.
‘If you’re a smoker, the single most effective way of
reducing your child’s exposure to passive smoke is for
you to quit.
‘Next Wednesday is No Smoking Day when more than
a million smokers will all try to quit in the UK’s biggest
mass quit attempt, so it’s a great opportunity to help
yourself and your children.
‘If this isn’t possible, having a smokefree home and car
offers the best alternative to help protect your child
from the harmful effects of passive smoke

Ref..worldonline observer 05/03/2014