Spouse's Smoking Raises Stroke Risk

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The risk of stroke is known to be several times higher among women who smoke. Now, the results of a new study suggest that this risk is even higher for smoker's whose husbands also smoke.

While passive exposure to cigarette smoke is known to increase the risk of heart disease, its effect on stroke has not been evaluated, Dr. Adnan I. Qureshi and colleagues note in their report, published in the medical journal Stroke.

To further investigate the potential relationship, the researchers followed 5,379 women enrolled in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study, a large government-sponsored epidemiology study.

The research team, based at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, examined information on risk factors collected during a first visit between 1982 and 1984, and then followed the women for the next 10 years.

Among women who smoked, the risk of having any type of stroke was increased by nearly sixfold if their husbands also smoked. The increased risk of having a stroke cause by a blocked blood vessel in the brain - as opposed to stroke cause by bleeding in the brain - was increased by nearly fivefold.

The investigators observed no association between spousal smoking and stroke risk among women who did not smoke.

Dr. Qureshi's group suggests that the smoking spouse may be more likely to quit during follow-up if their wives do not smoke, or they may make efforts to not smoke in close proximity to their wives.

"If physicians are to make a real impact on reducing stroke risk among their patients, they should not only address their patients' smoking habits but also those of their spouses or partners," Dr. Qureshi said in a statement.

SOURCE: Stroke, September 2005.