Spouse’s Smoking Brings Risk of Stroke to Nonsmoking Partner

Nobody likes secondhand smoke (SHS). It’s annoying, nasty, and it can make nonsmokers sick. Being around it a lot can increase a nonsmoker’s risk of coronary heart disease. A newly released study provides evidence it can increase the risk of stroke, too, for a nonsmoker living in a smoke-filled environment.

Secondhand smoke is particularly rough on nonsmoking spouses of smokers, where life in a smoking environment increases the risk of stroke by 42% for the spouse who has never smoked. In a home where one spouse is a former smoker but the other spouse still smokes, the risk of stroke for the nonsmoking spouse raises to 72% over the risk of stroke for spouses in a nonsmoking homes.

To test the element of risk associated with being married to a smoker, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed the cases of 16,225 people who responded to a survey issued by the National Institute on Aging’s Health and Retirement Study. The respondents were all 50 years old or older and were enrolled in the study in either 1992, 1993, 1998, or 2004. Each respondent was followed for an average of nine years after enrollment to monitor the incidence of stroke in the spouses of people who smoked.

By revealing the high risk of stroke that comes from sharing a home with a smoker, the research team says that quitting smoking improves the health of both partners in the household, thereby multiplying the healthful benefits of breaking the habit.

The September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine carries the full story of the study, which received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars program and by the National Institute on Aging.

Source: Elsevier

Filed under: Medical Research, Smoking, Stroke

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Comments

One Response to “Spouse’s Smoking Brings Risk of Stroke to Nonsmoking Partner”

Peter on July 31st, 2008 19:13

This is just more evidence in support of smoking bans. Nobody should be exposed to secondhand smoke in any workplace. Obviously there are serious consequences when smokers do not take their smoke breaks outdoors.