Second Hand Smoke May Cause 1.9 Million COPD Extra Deaths In China

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Main Category: COPD
Also Included In: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 01 Sep 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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According to an article in The Lancet, breathing in second-hand smoke is associated with a higher risk of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). This link may cause an extra 1.9 million deaths in China among lifetime non-smokers, say Dr Peymané Adab and Professor K K Cheng, University of Birmingham, UK and team.

The team looked at data from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study involving 20,430 adults over 50 during the period 2003-2006. 15,379 lifetime non-smokers were included in this study.

The researchers found that lifetime non-smokers exposed to 40 hours per week of passive smoking for over five years had a 48% greater chance of developing COPD, compared to lifetime non-smokers who were not exposed to second hand smoke. The writers say the link between an increase in passive smoking and a higher incidence of respiratory disease is strong.

Over 60% of adults Chinese adults do not and have never smoked (lifetime non-smokers). Restrictions to prevent passive smoking exposure are very limited in China. The writers say "If our risk estimates are correct, and assuming that current mortality and passive smoking exposure patterns continue, of the 240 million people aged over 50 years alive today in China, high exposure to passive smoking would result in about 1•9 million excess deaths* from COPD among never smokers. This finding has serious implications for population health, health services, and the economy, and lends further support to strong measures to ban smoking in public places and workplaces, and to increase availability of smoking cessation services in this region."

Dr Ana Menezes and Dr Pedro Hallal, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil, write in an accompanying Comment that these results suggest that future policies to curb smoking should, in addition to targeting active smoking, also take into account the health of the passive smoker who does not smoke.

"Passive smoking exposure and risk of COPD among adults in China: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study"
P Yin MSc, Prof CQ Jiang MD, Prof KK Cheng PhD, Prof TH Lam MD, KH Lam MPhil, MR Miller MD, WS Zhang PhD, GN Thomas PhD and P Adab MD
The Lancet 2007; 370:751-757 DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61378-6

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Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
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