|
 |
Passive smoking in childhood can triple lung cancer risk
Source: (cancerfacts.com)
Saturday, January 29, 2005
LONDON – Jan. 29, 2005 – Children who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home (passive smoking) are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer later on as adults, according to results of a massive seven-year European study.
The multi-center EPIC study of environmental or involuntary smoking is one of the largest such studies ever, involving more than 500,000 healthy volunteers in 10 European countries.
Coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer the researchers concluded that second hand smoke is a real threat to children's health.
They found that children exposed to passive smoking on a daily basis and for many hours a day are the most vulnerable with a three times the risk of developing lung cancer as children who grew up in smoke-free environments.
Children experiencing passive smoke a few times a week were one-and-a-half times more likely to develop lung cancer, and those exposed daily but not for many hours faced twice the risk. The study results appear online in today's British Medical Journal ahead of print publication of the report.
"This large prospective study, in which the smoking status was supported by cotinine measurements (blood tests for nicotine), confirms that environmental tobacco smoke is a risk factor for lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, particularly in ex-smokers," the authors wrote.
In one of the most comprehensive studies into passive smoking of its kind, researchers looked at 303,020 people across Europe who had never smoked, or had stopped smoking by at least ten years. Within this group, 123,479 provided information on exposure to passive smoke, and researchers followed these participants' progress for an average of seven years.
Of those who had known exposure to passive smoke (but were not smokers themselves), 97 had developed lung cancer, 20 more had upper respiratory cancers such as cancer of the larynx, and 14 died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during the seven follow-up years.
Former smokers faced up to twice the risk of respiratory diseases from passive smoke than those who'd never smoked. This may be because their lungs are already damaged, making them more at risk to the effects of environmental tobacco smoke, say the researchers.
The study significantly reinforces previous research into the cancerous effects of passive smoke, the authors conclude.
The study titled, "Environmental tobacco smoke and risk of respiratory cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in former smokers and never smokers in the EPIC prospective study," can be viewed online. Click here to view full paper.
Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 NexCura, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of cancerfacts.com content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of NexCura. NexCura® is a registered trademark and cancerfacts.com™ is a trademark of NexCura, Inc. or its affiliates. Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. All rights reserved. This information is for educational purposes only.
|
|
|
|
|
|
