Secondhand smoke is more dangerous to teenage girls than boys –study

It has long been known that secondhand smoke is as dangerous to non-smokers as it is to smokers. New research, as detailed in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), has revealed that passive exposure to cigarette smoke is more damaging to teenage girls than teenage boys.

 

According to Time, researchers at the University of Western Australia studied 1,057 non-smoking teenagers born between 1989 and 1992. Additionally, they gathered data about the smoking habits of the people they shared their homes with, paying particular attention to the period of time between their mothers’ pregnancy and when they turned 17. It was observed that 48% of the teenagers under observation experienced exposure to secondhand smoke at home.

 

At the end of the trial, blood samples were collected from the participants to assess their cholesterol levels. Scientists then compared these cholesterol levels to the teenagers’ exposure to secondhand smoke.

 

The researchers found that female teenagers who lived in homes where other people smoked had reduced levels of HDL cholesterol – the “good” type of cholesterol that removes cholesterol from the blood, therefore preventing the onset of heart disease.

 

“Assuming causality in these relationships, there are strong public health implications concerning the need to avoid children, particularly girls, being exposed to passive smoking in the household,” said the scientists.  

The dangers of secondhand smoke

 

Many studies have previously shown the damaging effects of secondhand smoke. According to the American Cancer Society, exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to a variety of health problems, including lung cancer, breast cancer in women, asthma, and heart disease. In the U.S. alone, 46,000 non-smokers die every year from heart disease, while 3,400 die from lung cancer.

 

Secondhand smoke has also been shown to alter a person’s genes and increase the risk of high blood pressure in infants. It is even tied to dementia.

 

Smoking itself is particularly dangerous to women. One such study  revealed that women who smoke are 25% more likely to develop heart disease than men.

 

Scientists admit that more research is needed to figure out why secondhand smoking has a different effect on women compared to men. — TJD, GMA News