|
 These findings and others suggest the health effects of passive
smoking on children are not limited to respiratory or developmental
health, but can have a long-term impact on cardiovascular health,
said senior author Costan G. Magnussen of Menzies Research Institute
Tasmania in Hobart, Australia.
Researchers used frozen blood samples from more than 1,000 kids ages
three to 18 collected in 1980, along with parental reports of
smoking status in 1980 and 1983 from a larger group of kids. They
also had ultrasounds of the adult children in 2001 and 2007.
They tested the blood samples for levels of cotinine, a byproduct of
cigarette smoke exposure, and looked for a buildup of plaque in the
carotid arteries, two large blood vessels of the neck, on the adult
ultrasounds. Carotid plaque can cause narrowing of the arteries,
increasing blood clot and stroke risk, according to the National
Institutes of Health.
About two percent of the grown-up kids had a carotid plaque
uncovered by ultrasound at an average age of 36.
More than 84 percent of kids of nonsmokers had no cotinine in their
blood, compared to 62 percent of those with one smoking parent and
43 percent when both parents smoked.
The authors assumed that kids with a parent who admitted to smoking
who did not have cotinine in their blood had been exposed to less
secondhand smoke, possibly because parents had been careful to keep
their smoking away from the child.
Compared to kids of nonsmokers, these kids were about one and a half
times as likely to have carotid artery plaque as adults. But kids of
smokers with poorer “smoking hygiene” that exposed them to more
smoke (and resulted in cotinine in their blood) were four times as
likely to have carotid artery plaque as those with nonsmoking
parents.
“What we were able to do that others have not, is show that parents
who are unable or unwilling to quit smoking can still limit the
impact of their smoking on their child’s future cardiovascular
health by changing their smoking behavior to limit the amount of
smoke their child is exposed to,” Magnussen told Reuters Health by
email.
Many smoking parents did not smoke inside the home or car, or smoked
well away from their children, to the point where there was no
evidence for passive smoke exposure in their child’s blood,
Magnussen said.
Plaque buildup, or “atherosclerosis,” can begin in childhood so the
results are not surprising, according to Karin B. Michels, an
epidemiologist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School in
Boston.
[to top of second column] |
But only 64 out of more than 2,000 grown subjects did develop
plaque, which is a very small number, Michels told Reuters Health by
phone.
“I would be a little cautious but overall I think it’s an important
study and lends more support to the risk of passive smoking for
children,” she said. “I don’t doubt that there is a risk and it
could be affecting other things like blood pressure.”
Atherosclerotic plaque is particularly dangerous when it develops at
an early age, she said.
This group of kids grew up in a time when smoking was much more
ubiquitous, and they would have been exposed to more secondhand and
thirdhand smoke, said Melbourne Hovell of San Diego State
University, who was not part of the new study.
“Thirdhand smoke” is that which lingers on surfaces or in
environments and may combine with other chemicals to create toxic
substances over time, Hovell told Reuters Health by phone.
Early smoke exposure may have several deleterious effects other than
just plaque buildup in the arteries, including an increased risk of
later breast cancer and a predisposition to nicotine addiction,
Hovell said. Plus, children of smokers are more likely to become
smokers themselves, triggering a cascade of other health risks.
“It’s pretty much a perfect storm,” Hovel said.
“The other message for the lay public is to not allow any smoking in
your home or car,” as it will contaminate the environment
indefinitely, he said. “Parents with young children probably should
avoid buying a used car that has been smoked in.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Fw56KX
Circulation, online March 23, 2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
