[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 19-Mar-1998
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Contact: Carole Bullock
caroleb@amhrt.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association

Just How Heavy Is Cigarette Smoking's Toll On Non-Smokers?

A new "meta-analysis" of data from 14 studies involving 6,166 individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD) finds that passive smoking was associated with an overall 23 percent increase in the risk of CHD among men and women who had never smoked. Ill effects of exposure to smoke was greater at home than at work, say Tulane researchers who estimate that 35,000 to 40,000 non-smokers' deaths each year in the United States can be attributed to passive smoking. "Our data underscore the need to eliminate passive smoking as an important strategy to reduce the societal burden of CHD," the scientists say. Jiang He, Tulane University School of Public Health, New Orleans: (504) 588-5165.

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