Smokers putting their loved ones at risk of heart attacks
Thursday, February 12, 2009 - 06:07
in Health & Medicine
Researchers at University College London and St George's, University of London measured recent exposure to tobacco smoke in non-smoking middle-aged men taking part in the British Regional Heart Study by measuring the levels of cotinine - a compound carried in the blood - at two time points 20 years apart. A blood cotinine level above 0.7 ng/mL is associated with a 40% increase in the risk of a heart attack (2), and other studies have suggested that even a level of 0.2 ng/mL may increase the risk (3). The researchers found that while in 1978-80, 73% of men had a cotinine level above 0.7 ng/mL, by 1998-2000 that proportion had fallen to 17%...