A new study of Chinese women indicates that exposure to
secondhand smoke is a serious risk factor for peripheral arterial
disease (PAD), which affects arteries in the legs and, in severe
cases, may lead to amputation. Lead author Dr. Yao He of the
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital, Beijing,
and colleagues studied 1,209 women, age 60 and older, who had never
smoked. Of them, 39.5 percent reported secondhand smoke exposure
for at least two years during the previous decade. He and
colleagues reported in the journal Circulation (online
September 22, 2008) that exposure to secondhand smoke in either the
home or workplace increased the women’s risk of PAD by 67 percent
and their risk of heart disease and stroke by 69 and 56 percent,
respectively. Risk of these problems increased with the amount and
duration of secondhand smoke exposure.
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