Smokers putting their loved ones at risk of heart
attacksFebruary 11th, 2009 in Medicine & Health / Health
Researchers at University College London and St George's,
University of London measured recent exposure to tobacco smoke
in non-smoking middle-aged men taking part in the British
Regional Heart Study by measuring the levels of cotinine - a
compound carried in the blood - at two time points 20 years
apart. A blood cotinine level above 0.7ng/mL is associated with
a 40% increase in the risk of a heart attack, and other studies
have suggested that even a level of 0.2ng/mL may increase the
risk. The researchers found that while in 1978-80, 73% of men
had a cotinine level above 0.7ng/mL, by 1998-2000 that
proportion had fallen to 17%. However, despite the number of
non-smoking men at risk having fallen, half of those who still
had a high cotinine level (above 0.7 ng/ml) in 1998-2000 lived
with a partner who smoked. Non-smoking men who had a partner who
smoked had average cotinine levels of 1.39ng/mL, almost tw