Smoking spouse 'increases partner's stroke risk'
Being married to a smoker raises your risk of stroke, researchers say
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Tuesday, 29, Jul 2008 09:00
Being married to a smoker increases the non-smoker's risk of stroke, according to a study published today.
The research, reported in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, found that for those who never smoked, being married to a current smoker was linked to a 42 per cent increase in risk of stroke compared to being married to a 'never-smoker'.
For former smokers, being married to a current smoker was associated with a 72 per cent increase in risk compared to being married to a never-smoker.
And being married to a former smoker was not associated with any increase in risk compared to being married to a never-smoker.
The researchers from Harvard Medical School argue this suggests that although stroke risk is higher if your spouse smokes, that risk is eliminated if the spouse stops smoking.
They discovered the link between smoking spouses and stroke after studying data from over 16,000 American adults involved in the Health and Retirement Study.
Enrolments took place in 1992, 1993, 1998 and 2004 and spousal smoking status was assessed at the time of enrolment.
Participants were followed an average of 9.1 years after enrolment for the incidence of stroke and other risk factors, such as heart disease and age, were taken into account.
"These findings indicate that spousal smoking increases stroke risk among non-smokers and former smokers," commented researcher M Maria Glymour.
"The health benefits of quitting smoking likely extend beyond individual smokers to affect their spouses, potentially multiplying the benefits of smoking cessation."