Environmental Tobacco Smoke Raises Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Toddlers and Teenagers

We all know that smoking is bad for the heart. But what about inhaling second-hand smoke by non-smokers, especially children? A new study examining the effects of second-hand tobacco smoke on the health of toddlers and teens has revealed that the chronic exposure elevates the children’s risk of developing heart disease later in life. The study was performed by the Columbus Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Research Institute’s Center for Cardiovascular Medicine, Ohio, and presented at the Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Meeting of the American Heart Association.

The new research found signs of cardiac and vascular damage in children who had been raised by parents smoking at home or / and in their family cars, thus exposing their kids to big doses of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). It was also found that, although second-hand tobacco smoke was bad for the heart health of all children, toddlers were more susceptible to the damaging effects of ETS on the cardiovascular system than were teenagers.

In the course of the study, a group of 125 youngsters, whose age ranged from 2 to 14 years old, were examined to find if their exposure to tobacco smoke could produce markers associated with the future development of cardiovascular injury and inflammation. The children’s blood and hair samples were used to determine the amounts of residual nicotine and the presence of specific cellular markers for heart damage - endothelial progenitor cells, or EPC. Also, the parents were interviewed to document the degree of the children’s home exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

The results showed that younger kids had about six times more nicotine in their hair samples, or 12.68 nanograms per milligram, that did children of an older category (2,57 nanograms).

Researcher John Bauer has pointed out that roughly 40 percent of teens, and even a greater percentage of toddlers, show the levels of nicotine in their bodies comparable to those of heavily smoking adults. When parents smoke at home, they put the heath of their children in extreme danger, because toxic components of tobacco smoke remain in the air and pollute the lungs and other organs of their youngsters. In addition, tobacco smoke inhaled from the air is not filtered by any means.

The harmful effect of ETS on the heart health of the youngest kids is even more pronounced. Study co-author, pediatrician Dr. Judith Groner, has commented that young children tend to breathe in a more rapid rate, which makes them inhale more nicotine and other harmful chemicals from the smoke-polluted air, in comparison with older children. Besides, toddlers enjoy spending time close to their parents, which also makes them more exposed to cigarette smoke if their parents smoke.

The scientists still do not know whether the damage imposed on children by environmental tobacco smoke is reversible or not.

These new findings should become a serious warning for smoking parents. If you raise children, and if you care about their heath, consider quitting smoking, or at least do not smoke at home or in the family car where your kids can be exposed to toxic second-hand cigarette fumes.
Darlene Marlow