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Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke Linked To Respiratory Diseases

A new study conducted by researchers at University Hospital of Geneva indicated that exposure to second-hand smoke can cause serious health complications.

According to the research, passive smokers are in great risk of developing respiratory diseases.

"The results of our longitudinal assessment of environmental tobacco smoke, or ETS, effects in asymptomatic never-smokers showed that exposure to ETS was associated with the development of respiratory symptoms," stated Margaret W. Gerbase, co-author of the study.

Experts examined nearly 1,600 healthy adults that had suffered no respiratory complications before the study. Participants at the research were monitored for a period of 11 year, from 1991 until 2002.

Although all participants at the research were non-smokers, some of them developed respiratory diseases due to second-hand smoke.

It was also suggested that people suffering from bronchial hyper-reactivity are in greater risk of developing respiratory problems if they are repeatedly exposed to cigarette smoke.

"A particularly strong effect of continued exposure to ETS was observed among previously asymptomatic individuals with bronchial hyper-reactivity," revealed Dr. Gerbase.

The findings of the research were published in latest issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.