CORRELATION BETWEEN SECOND HAND SMOKING AND VASCULAR CHANGES IN CHILDREN

Abstract

orldwide, 40% of children, 33% of male non-smokers, and 35% of female non-smokers were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004. This exposure was estimated to have caused 379 000 deaths from ischemic heart disease, 165 000 from lower respiratory infections, 36 900 from asthma, and 21 400 from lung cancer. 603 000 deaths were attributable to secondhand smoke in 2004, which was about 1·0% of worldwide mortality. 47% of deaths from second-hand smoke occurred in women, 28% in children, and 26% in men. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exposure of children to second hand smoke on their vasculature including carotid intimal thickness and to correlate this to their urinary cotinine level. This case control cross sectional study included the evaluation of 40 2nd hand smoker children, 27 (67.5 %) boys and 13(32.5 %) girls their age ranged from 5 to 12 years with a mean age of 8.375 ± 2.047 years. All of studied children had a smoker father, non has smoker mother. 20 age and sex matched healthy children having no smoking family member were included as control group. They were 10 males (50 %) and 10 females (50 %), their age ranged from 5 to 12 ye