Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog Rotating Header Image

October, 1997:

Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Ischaemic Heart Disease

Epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of ischaemic heart disease is about 30% greater in non-smokers who live with smokers than in those who do not. It seems implausible that the effect of environmental exposure to tobacco smoke should be so large when the excess risk associated with smoking 20 cigarettes per day is only about 80% at age 65 (the average age of ischaemic heart disease events in the studies). Environmental exposure to tobacco smoke is only about 1% that of smoking; the risk is nearly half. This paper on “Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and ischaemic heart disease” examines the possible explanations for this surprisingly large association.