Sniff smoke, risk a stroke

By Catherine Masters

Breathing in tobacco fumes from a relative or workmate increases your chances of having a stroke by up to 82 per cent, Auckland Medical School research shows.

The latest in a long list of medical conditions to be linked to passive smoking is revealed in the British journal Tobacco Control, a publication of the British Medical Journal.

The authors say few studies have looked at the association between smoking and strokes and smoking had not generally been considered a risk factor.

Based on research from a long-term Auckland stroke study, the report also confirms that smokers are up to six times more likely to have a stroke than non-smokers.

Authors say the findings reinforce the message that passive smoking is dangerous.

"This study provides compelling evidence about the need to strengthen tobacco control as a powerful means of reducing the high burden of stroke worldwide," said New Zealander Dr Ruth Bonita, senior author and director of non-communicable disease surveillance at the World Health Organisation.

"Preventing exposure to other people's tobacco smoke should be a priority. Passive smokers should actively demand better protection."

The Auckland Stroke Study has documented all cases of stroke in the city of anyone over the age of 15.

Using that data, researchers found that both men and women non-smokers and long-term former smokers ran a significant risk of stroke as a result of passive smoking - but women slightly more so.

Active smokers - anyone who smokes one cigarette or more a day - were four times more likely than non-smokers, passive smokers, or long-term former smokers to have a stroke.

And the greater the number of cigarettes smoked, the greater the risk of stroke.

An editorial in the same publication - headlined Please Put Out That Cigarette, Grandpa - says elderly people should not be left out of the non-smoking message.

"Partly, it is misguided compassion of the kind, 'it's the only pleasure Grandpa has got left, so why not leave him alone?'" the editorial says.

But life was healthier at any age from stopping smoking - and an elderly person who quit would give a clear message to grandchildren that smoking was no longer the norm.

Numerous studies link passive smoking to conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, cancer and respiratory problems.