Smoke effects permanent on kids
"...people who had been exposed to parental smoking when they were children had less elastic arteries, an early indicator of poor cardiovascular health.” Image: ChrisAt/iStockphoto An international study, involving researchers at the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, has found children who are exposed to their parents’ cigarette smoke may suffer an irreversible impact to their cardiovascular health later in life.It has been previously known that passive smoke was harmful to children, but this is the first worldwide study to examine the long-term effects on blood vessel health.Second-hand smoke kills more than 600,000 non-smokers worldwide every year, with 379,000 of these deaths related to heart disease. According to the World Health Organization (2009) about 40 per cent of the world’s children are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home.Data collected for the Young Finns Study in Finland and the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study in Australia were analysed. These two major population-based studies...